


Lives of Devotion

by WotanAnubis



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harem, Alternate Universe - Slavery, Avatar Korra Has a Harem, Bondage, Cunnilingus, F/F, Light Sadism, Masochism, Master/Slave, Mistress Korra, Nudity, Oral Sex, Outdoor Sex, Public Nudity, Semi-Public Sex, Slave Asami, Slave Everyone-who-isn't-Korra basically, Slave Kuvira, Slave Opal, Slave P'li, Slave Zhu Li, Spanking, Strap-Ons, Vaginal Fingering
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-30
Updated: 2018-08-15
Packaged: 2018-12-21 19:42:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 35,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11951274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WotanAnubis/pseuds/WotanAnubis
Summary: In which Asami wants to give something to the Avatar - herself.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this idea for quite a long time. I've never written it down because, well, it's so obviously a Chapter 1 and I'm not really sure what Chapter 2 is going to look like. Still, I felt like finally writing it down, so here it is.

_"Miss Sato? The Avatar's emissary has arrived."_

"Send them up."

Asami leaned back in her expensive leather chair. She tried to keep her face impassive, tried not to grip the armrests of her chair too hard. It wasn't a good look for a businesswoman to look nervous and especially not for this kind of business.

Asami felt the need to get out of her chair and away from her desk and just look out the window for a moment to calm herself. She didn't because, well, it wouldn't work. Her office in the Future Industries HQ commanded a marvelous view of Republic City, which was why Asami never, ever looked out.

It was all her father's fault. Him and his Equalists. He'd honestly thought their advanced technology would give them a decisive edge against the Avatar and her army of fanatics. As though the Fire Nation's advanced technology had meant anything to the last Avatar. And as a result of the Equalist's hubris, parts of Republic City were still in ruins.

There was a knock at the door to Asami's office. Without bothering to wait for permission to enter, a woman strode. She was somewhat older than Asami, with a proud, military bearing, that were very much at odds with the plain black briefcase she carried. She had sharp features and even sharper eyebrows. Her hard eyes looked at Asami as though she was measuring her up and had already decided she didn't.

She was dressed in the blue uniform of the Avatar's Guard. Around her neck was the blue collar of the Avatar's Harem.

"Miss Sato," the woman greeted her with the bare minimum of politeness. "My name is Kuvira. I have been sent by my Mistress to judge your worthiness for Her harem."

"My worthiness?" said Asami. "I thought..."

"You thought my Mistress would accept anyone into Her harem?" said Kuvira. "You were mistaken. _Past_ Avatars may have been so lacking in standards, but my Mistress is better than that."

Asami fell silent for a moment. This Kuvira was so... rigid. So proud. She was a slave of the Avatar, but she looked at her as though she was beneath her.

Kuvira... Kuvira... She'd heard that name before. Where had...?

Oh, yes. One of the Avatar's commanders during the recent... conflict. One of her most devoted, too, and the Avatar's forces were pretty devoted to begin with. Asami couldn't help but wonder what the Avatar had done to inspire such loyalty.

"Well, I'm sure Korra will find me worthy," Asami said.

Much to Asami's secret delight, Kuvira flinched visibly at the casual mention of the Avatar's name. Her hard expression seemed to ice over.

"We shall see," Kuvira said flatly. "A lot of people think first of the prestige of being one of the Avatar's slaves. They are wrong. There is only service. Service to someone greater than yourself. The Avatar's slaves are objects. Instruments to work the Avatar's will. Nothing more."

"Is that how you see yourself?" Asami asked quietly. "An object?"

" _Yes,_ " Kuvira said. "I was nothing. The Avatar took me and gave me a place at Her feet and a purpose in Her world. I exist only for Her."

Asami noticed the mad gleam in Kuvira's eyes. She really believed this. Every word of it. She'd wondered if, maybe, Kuvira was just being difficult to scare Asami off. A life in the Avatar's Harem wasn't for everyone, after all, and there were certain... romantics... who thought belonging to the Avatar was somehow glamorous. But no. Kuvira really was this much of a fanatic.

Asami got out of her chair and walked over to the windows. The remnants of Republic City stretched out before her. The abandoned buildings, the crumbling ruins, the torn-up streets. Oh, it was going to be rebuilt. Life went on, after all. The homes and the shops and the roads were going to come back. And Future Industries was poised to make a killing on it. Her father's company was going to rake in the profits rebuilding what it had destroyed. What made the whole thing worse, was that it was now _her_ company.

"See this?" Asami said, taking in the devastation with a small wave of her hand.

Kuvira came to stand next to her. "The city?"

"The ruins," Asami said. "My father did that."

"Amon did that," said Kuvira. "The Avatar did that."

"With weapons my father made and supplied," said Asami. "Well, not to the Avatar, but you know what I mean. Because he believed in something so hard it twisted him up inside and destroyed everything."

"You do not bear your father's guilt," said Kuvira. Her voice was still hard, but just a hint of gentleness had crept in. Asami got the distinct impression the woman was trying to comfort her.

"This is not about guilt," said Asami.

"If you say so," said Kuvira. "In any event, **if** you become the Avatar's property, Future Industries will fall to Her as well. I assure you, my Mistress will use your company for the good of all. Including Republic City."

"I know," said Asami. "That's part of the reason I... well, you know."

"Of course, you could also just sign over Future Industries to the Avatar," said Kuvira. "It is not required for you to become a slave."

"No, that won't work," said Asami. "I have to be her slave."

Kuvira glanced at her. "Such conviction," she said. It was hard to tell if she was being sarcastic or sincere.

"You know, before you came here, I was really nervous about the whole thing," said Asami. "But the more you talk, the more certain I keep getting. I belong with the Avatar."

"There are other ways to serve the world," Kuvira said. "Many of which don't involve slavery. You could take up charity or join the police, for example."

"No," said Asami.

"Your family name is Sato?" said Kuvira.

"That's right," said Asami.

"You will lose it. You will be just Asami. A slave's loyalties cannot be divided. You will belong to the Avatar alone. All of your remaining family ties will be severed. Of course," Kuvira added wryly, "for some that's not so great a sacrifice."

"Don't make light of what happened with my family," Asami said.

"Was that what I was doing?" said Kuvira.

"Well, what else could you have meant?" said Asami.

"What else indeed," Kuvira scoffed. "But, to continue. You seem reasonably fit already, but the Avatar will see you get fitter still. You will fight for Her on whatever battlefield She chooses."

"That doesn't worry me," said Asami.

"And She will use your body to satisfy Herself," Kuvira said.

Asami swallowed hard and felt a tingle start between her legs. She'd known about that part, of course. Everybody did. She'd fantasized about it as well. Frequently. But to hear it said so plainly was... well, it had an impact.

"I will serve," she said.

"Of course, with your skills it's most likely the Avatar will have you keeping the books," Kuvira said. "It's not unlikely that you'll keep running Future Industries the way you do now. Except that all your profits will go into the Avatar's coffers and you won't see a single cent."

"That's fine with me," said Asami. "Any more questions?"

Kuvira put her briefcase on Asami's desk and snapped open the clasps. She took out a single sheet of paper a handed it to Asami.

"Sign," she said.

Asami turned the sheet over. There was nothing on the back. She was used to corporate contracts full of legal terms covering every single little eventuality. This was just one line and an empty place for the signature.

_I hereby offer myself wholly to the Avatar, to serve Them in whatever way They see fit, until the day of my death._

Asami put her pen to the paper, and hesitated. She looked up at Kuvira's blank expression.

"Do I sign 'Asami Sato' or just 'Asami'?" she asked.

"At the moment, you are still Asami Sato," Kuvira replied.

Asami signed and breathed out. Done. She belonged to the Avatar. Her body, her life, everything she was and ever might be, was Korra's.

It should have been a momentous occasion, but she felt... light. As if she'd struggled out of darkness and into the place she was supposed to.

"Strip."

Asami looked up at Kuvira. "What?"

"You are the Avatar's possession," said Kuvira. "You own nothing. That includes those clothes. Take them off."

"You're going to take me to the Avatar's Palace, right?" said Asami.

"Of course," said Kuvira. "You must be presented to our Mistress and properly integrated into Her harem."

"So you want me to walk out this building and then travel all the way to the Avatar's Palace stark naked?"

"What I want doesn't matter," said Kuvira. "What matters is that you are not allowed to wear anything not given to you by the Avatar."

"Do you have any idea how many people are in this building?" said Asami. "Do you really want them all to get a good, long look at me before the Avatar does?"

Kuvira closed her eyes and smiled. "I see. I understand. Well, not to worry. There's only the two of us here. I'll just tear up the contract and no-one'll be the wiser. And you will get to keep your clothes on."

"Don't you dare touch that paper," Asami snapped.

Asami glared at Kuvira. It would've been better if Kuvira was smirking or had a mocking look in her eyes or anything. Instead, she just stood there, waiting. Watching what she would do. This was still a test. And she might still fail.

Staring Kuvira defiantly in the eyes, Asami started undressing. She didn't look down at her own clothes even once as she stripped naked. It was a bit tricky, finding all the buttons, but she was determined not to break eye contact. She'd signed the paper. She was Avatar Korra's slave. And she wasn't about to let Kuvira think for one single second that she hadn't meant it.

Unfortunately, her shoes were a problem. They weren't the kind she could just kick off. She must've looked a fool, lifting one leg and fiddling awkwardly with one hand, swaying back and forth as she fought for balance and eye contact. To Kuvira's credit, she didn't smile once at what must have been an absurd display.

Eventually, the shoes came off. As did everything else. Asami stood up straight. A naked body that was completely in Avatar Korra's possession.

Kuvira nodded and reached into her briefcase.

"You can wear this."

Kuvira's hand came out holding a simple strip of blue leather. The collar of the Avatar's Harem. Asami reached for it without thinking. Her signature on the paper? Well, that was just a legal technicality. Her nakedness? Well, maybe she was just feeling naughty. But that blue collar? _That_ was real. **That** made her truly the Avatar's in the eyes of everyone. Including her own.

Asami's grasping fingers came to a stop just above Kuvira's offering hand. She looked up at the woman with a question in her eyes.

"Take it," Kuvira said kindly. "Unless you want me to put it on."

Asami grabbed the collar and put around her neck. It was just a strip of leather that happened to be blue, and yet... feeling it around her neck. It was perfect. It was divine.

She **was** the Avatar's.

Asami felt Kuvira lift her chin. Then, with a gentleness Asami would not have guessed possible in a woman like her, Kuvira kissed her. A brief, light little touch of the lips. A second or two, no more. And yet, in that moment, Asami knew that as the Avatar's possessions they now shared a bond. A new and unfamiliar bond, one she didn't know what to make of yet. But a bond, all the same.

"Welcome," Kuvira whispered.

Asami nodded. She didn't really have any words right now. None that could express her feelings.

"Come," Kuvira said, her voice becoming hard again.

Kuvira turned and marched out. Without looking back even once, Asami followed her out of Miss Sato's office and into her new life.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So remember how I wrote I wasn't really sure what Chapter 2 was going to look like? Yeah, about that...

The journey to the Avatar's Palace had been surprisingly uneventful. Even the long walk from her former office down to the garage had been mundane. It shouldn't have been. Asami had walked past a lot of her former employees completely naked. The CEO - former CEO - exposed for all to see. All those people, all those eyes. Watching her.

Asami should've felt... something. The least bit embarrassed, maybe. But no. She'd felt excited. She'd been on her way to her new life as the Avatar's slave. That mattered to her. So much, maybe, that it crowded out all the other emotions she should've felt.

Unfortunately, her excitement then had to deal with actual drive to the Palace and had lost. Sitting in the passenger seat next to Kuvira and watching the land move past had been pretty dull. The knowledge that every second brought her closer to the Avatar hadn't helped. Neither had Kuvira. The woman wasn't much of a conversationalist and had refused to answer each and every one of Asami questions.

They'd stopped at a roadside tavern for the night. Kuvira had spoken to Asami long enough to ask if she had any allergies, then ordered dinner for the both of them. The tavern owner had been surprisingly servile. He'd even tried to refuse payment, but Kuvira had insisted on paying for everything. Asami had wondered aloud why the man had been so accommodating to a couple of slaves.

_"It's not about us,"_ Kuvira had replied. _"It's about the Avatar."_

That night, in one of the tavern's shabby rooms, Asami lay in bed unable to sleep. The sheer enormity what had happened that day was slowly making its presence felt.

She was in an unfamiliar room in an unfamiliar bed with a woman she barely knew sleeping a few feet away. Her mansion, her company, all her money, all gone. She owned nothing. She was nothing. Even the collar around her neck wasn't really hers. It belonged to the Avatar. Just like she did.

Asami Sato no longer existed.

All that was left was Asami, who now belonged to a young woman she didn't even really know. Of course, she'd seen Avatar Korra's picture in the papers and heard her voice over the radio, but that didn't mean she knew her.

She'd seen Avatar Korra, in person, exactly once. The fighting between the Equalists and the Republic City forces had been going on for weeks at that point. Airships always loomed overhead, silent threats that might, at any point, start bombarding another city block into ruins. Asami couldn't quite remember what had lured her out of her father's mansion that day. It was very possible she'd just been out buying groceries. Then the streets were suddenly full of black-clad Equalist soldiers and the Avatar's screaming fanatics in blue. Officially, the Avatar's army had come in to support Republic City's troops. In reality, they'd hit the city like a tidal wave and washed the Equalists away.

And Avatar Korra had been at the front. Asami had seen her that day, out on the streets, fighting the Equalists as hard as any of her soldiers. Amon hadn't lead from the front. Neither had the Republic City Council. Leading from the front was a great way to lose sight of the battle and then just lose it. But Avatar Korra was a force of nature. There was no plan that could stop a force of nature.

During that one-sided street fight, Avatar Korra had glanced over to Asami. Just once. Barely a second. Long enough to see Asami wasn't part of the fight and wasn't a threat. And yet, somehow, the sight of the Avatar's blue eyes had burned itself into Asami's soul. After that, it'd really just been a matter of time for Asami.

Alone in her unfamiliar bed in the small tavern, burning with the memory of those eyes and the knowledge that she now belonged to them, Asami let her hand drift between her legs.

* * * * *

"These lands belong to the Avatar, you know."

Asami was startled out of her reverie. For the last half hour, their Sat- their car had driven through farmland. Rice paddy fields stretched away in every direction. The sight was uninspiring, but for some reason Kuvira had felt moved to comment.

"That's... a lot of land," said Asami. "I assume all this rice goes to feed the Palace?"

"Naturally," said Kuvira. "When people think of the Avatar's Palace, they only think of its splendor. But these fields are as much part of the Palace as the walls or the throne room."

"So we're getting close then," said Asami eagerly.

"We'll be there momentarily," Kuvira said.

Asami felt the irrational urge to unhook her seatbelt, jump out of the car and run the rest of the way. She knew she'd get there faster if she just stayed put in her chair. But she couldn't help it. Soon she'd be in front of Avatar Korra! The only problem was that it wasn't now.

"Do the Avatar's slaves work these fields?" she asked, in an attempt to keep the conversation going and to keep her growing excitement from becoming too much to bear.

"Free farmers work these fields," said Kuvira. "The soil is fertile enough for them to feed the Palace, their families and sell a reasonable surplus. _We_ do work these fields as well, but only when our Mistress sees fit to loan us to the farmers. Usually during planting and harvest."

"Of course. We," said Asami. "Sorry."

"It's been a long trip and you haven't even been properly presented to the Avatar yet, so I'll be merciful this time," said Kuvira. "I won't mention this little slip of the tongue to our Mistress."

"Thank you," said Asami.

"Just don't let it happen again," said Kuvira.

Asami breathed in sharply when she saw the walls emerge from behind the horizon. The Avatar's Palace was right in front of her and getting closer! At the end of this straight road that suddenly seemed infinitely long.

The walls rose and rose until they loomed overhead like mountains. The car drove into their shadow and, finally, came to rest in front of its impassive stone. Asami got rid of her seatbelt as soon as she could and staggered out of the car, running towards the blank wall.

Two guards in blue uniform holding something like spears stood on either side of the road. They didn't seem surprised to see a young, naked woman come running towards them.

"Are you the ones who'll open up the gate?" Asami asked.

"No," said one of the guards. He didn't wear a collar, Asami noticed. Neither did the woman on the other side of the road.

"Well, get someone who does," said Asami. "I'm here to see the Avatar."

"You might want to rephrase that," said the other guard.

"I'm... I'm to be delivered to Avatar Korra and presented to her as her new slave," said Asami.

"Better," said Kuvira, walking up behind Asami. She put her hand on Asami's shoulder and gave the guards a courteous nod. "Open the gate. The Avatar is no doubt eager to take possession of Her newest slave."

The guards raised their spears and struck the ground with them. A noise like a hundred tiny, jangling bells erupted. It must have been a signal to the Eartbenders high up on the wall, because a section of stone easily slid down, revealing the road into the Palace.

"Get back in the car," Kuvira commanded.

* * * * *

According to legend, the Palace of the Avatar had been built by Avatar Wan shortly after the First Unification. Asami kind of doubted any part of the original structure still stood after all this time, but she was willing to accept this was the original site of the old Palace.

Over the millennia the Palace of the Avatar had grown and expanded (and been destroyed and rebuilt) by the all the Avatars who'd taken possession of it. There was still one central Palace, but a multitude of different buildings had sprouted around it, turning the vast complex into a small city. The buildings all came from different times and different cultures, depending on who the Avatar of the time was, so a pagoda that would not look out of place in Ba Sing Se might very well stand next to an ancient Air Nomad temple.

The last great expansion to the Palace's grounds had been constructed by Avatar Kyoshi, who'd needed a lot of new buildings to house the vast army of slave soldiers she'd used to crush the ambitions of Chin the Unready. Avatar Korra's most obvious contribution to the grounds was more modest - a very sensible garage near the entrance where Kuvira parked the car.

There was a single great road from the gate and the garage to the central Palace and Kuvira marched down it so fast Asami had to hurry to keep up. Kuvira's expression was as stony and impassive as always, but Asami got the impression the woman was eager to see her Mistress. _Their_. Their Mistress.

Statues of past Avatars lined the way, at once welcoming and foreboding. _We keep the world in Balance,_ they seemed to say. _We are the power of the world. We are at the heart of everything._ Any one person had just a brief moment in time to affect the world, but the Avatar was eternal. Still, a cynical part of Asami couldn't help but wonder how many Avatar statues had been removed over the centuries to make way for new ones.

The central Palace was vast. Broad hallways, high doors and expensive carpets. It was not unfriendly, but it was designed to make visitors feel small and inconsequential. Asami didn't feel too affected by it, though. Her former mansion had done much the same thing at a smaller scale.

Guards lined the hallways. They were all focused, alert and collared. Asami wondered how long it would be before she would have to do a spell of guard duty. She probably wouldn't make a very good guard. She wasn't really cut out for standing still in one spot for hours on end. It wasn't her choice, though. It would never be her choice. If the Avatar commanded her to be a guard, she would guard.

To Asami's surprise the lionturtle doors to the Throne Room were guarded by only a single woman. She was tall, thin and striking. The sides of her head had been shaved, and a single black braid fell down her back. She also had a tattoo of what looked like a third eye on her forehead. She would've looked intimidating if it hadn't been for the blue collar around her neck, which told Asami that she wasn't a threat. Not to Asami, anyway.

"Kuvira," said the guard.

"I've brought the Avatar's new slave," Kuvira announced. "Let us through."

The woman tilted her head to look Asami straight in the eyes. Asami shuddered under the scrutiny. Her eyes burned with a fanaticism that could almost match Kuvira's.

"Welcome," said the woman. "I hope you know how lucky you are."

"She will," said Kuvira sharply. "Now open the doors. Don't keep us from our Mistress."

"Wouldn't dream of it," said the guard.

"Now then," said Kuvira, turning to Asami, "you are about to meet the Avatar. You will kowtow upon entering the Throne Room and you will not. Say. Anything. Remember, you belong to the Avatar now."

"I know," said Asami.

"Good," said Kuvira as the doors opened.

* * * * *

The Avatar's Throne Room stretched away on all sides, huge and empty. Eight enormous statues held up the distant ceiling. Four men, four women; two from the Fire Nation; two Air Nomads; two inhabitants of the Earth Kingdom; two tribespeople from the Water Tribes. On the ceiling itself a massive, pale relief of Raava looked benevolently down on any visitors. At the far end of the room, atop a set of steps, stood the Avatar's white throne. Carved, it was said, from a single block of marble.

And on that throne...

Asami fell onto her knees and pressed her forehead against the cold floor. Kuvira was already kneeling next to her in the same pose of absolute submission to the Avatar.

There was a brief, distant rustling. Then, footsteps. Asami swallowed hard and struggled to breathe, her heart hammering in her chest. The Avatar was coming closer. Coming to her. _The Avatar_. Her new Mistress. Her new Owner. The woman she'd serve for the rest of her life.

The footsteps came to a stop right in front of her. Asami kept her forehead pressed against the floor. Her whole body screamed at her to look up, just once, just the tiniest little glance at the Avatar. She overruled it. If she couldn't follow one simple little instruction just because she wanted to do something else, she wouldn't deserve to be the Avatar's slave.

"You can stand up," said the Avatar. "Both of you."

Asami got to her feet. Avatar Korra was right in front of her. She looked at her once, then away. She didn't know the protocol here. She was allowed to stand, sure, but... was she allowed to look at the Avatar?

As she desperately looked at anything but the Avatar, Asami noticed a young, friendly-looking woman with a messy bob haircut standing just behind Avatar Korra. Like Asami, she was completely naked and, like Asami, wore a blue collar around her neck. She smiled amiably, as though watching a show.

Kuvira still knelt, her head still against the floor. Avatar Korra gave an annoyed grunt.

" _Stand_ , Kuvira."

Kuvira slowly got to her feet. Apparently, just because she'd been allowed to stop kowtowing to the Avatar hadn't meant she'd wanted to.

Avatar Korra slowly walked around Asami, taking a good look at her naked body. Asami felt herself starting to blush. Her nudity hadn't bothered her much the entire trip here, but now. Now she was in the presence of the woman who owned her naked body. Who could do with it as she pleased. And, well, Asami couldn't help but hope her body would please.

Asami put her hands behind her back and stood up as straight as she could manage, presenting herself completely to the Avatar. From the corner of her eyes, she could see Kuvira nod in approval.

"So..." said Avatar Korra. "You'd be Asami, then?"

Asami nodded mutely.

"You're allowed to talk to me, you know," said Avatar Korra. "Well, you're allowed to answer my questions, anyway. Understand?"

"Yes," said Asami.

Kuvira hissed angrily. The naked girl behind Avatar Korra frowned.

"OK, good," said Avatar Korra. "But you will always refer to me as either 'Mistress Korra' or 'Avatar Korra', got it?"

Asami nodded. "Yes, Mistress Korra. Forgive me, Mistress Korra."

"Don't worry about it," said Avatar Korra. "You're new. Everybody makes a few mistakes at first. Except my Kuvira, of course. So, uh..." Avatar Korra cleared her throat awkwardly. "You're... I hear you're from Republic City?"

"Yes, Mistress Korra," Asami replied.

"I'm sorry about what happened," said Avatar Korra softly. "You know, to... to your city."

"You don't have to apologize, Mistress Korra," said Asami. "None of it was your fault. Uhm, Mistress Korra."

"Still... it must have been hard."

"It was," Asami admitted, "but... it's in the past. I belong to you now, Mistress Korra."

"And I will take care of you," said Avatar Korra.

Asami nodded, unable to speak.

"Speaking of which," Avatar Korra said brightly, "this is Opal. She'll show you the ropes, get you settled in. You know."

The naked girl stepped forward and nodded pleasantly at Asami. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise," said Asami. "But, uhm, I..." She fell silent. Returning a greeting was one thing. Asking a question was another. And she'd already committed a faux pas.

"Say what you have to say," said Avatar Korra.

"I... I thought Kuvira would show me the ropes? Mistress Korra," Asami asked.

"Oh, Kuvira'll definitely be training you," said Avatar Korra. "But for now, I'm giving you to Opal. She'll be teaching you how things work around here and you will do as she says. Until I tell you otherwise, Opal's orders to you are _my_ orders, understand?"

Asami bowed. "Yes, Mistress Korra. Should I refer to her as Mistress Opal, Mistress Korra?"

Avatar Korra laughed. "No," she said. "The Palace only has one Mistress. Ultimately, Opal's power over you comes from me. Besides, it's only temporary."

"As you say, Mistress Korra."

"Alright, Opal, better get to it," said Avatar Korra. "Kuvira, you stay right there."

"Yes, Mistress Korra," Opal and Kuvira chorused.

Opal walked to Asami and lay a companionable hand on her shoulder. "Come on," she said. "Time to show you what's what."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> People read blatant lesbian haremfic for the long expository dialogue scenes about mundane minutiae, right?
> 
> ... The fuck am I doing with this fic?

The Avatar's Palace was a bewildering maze of gleaming hallways. The only real way Asami could tell them apart as she and Opal walked through them were the different busts and portraits lining the walls. Most of them were of past Avatars looking down on them from their elaborate frames. 

But Asami was surprised to find a lot of the paintings portrayed harem slaves. Some were shown naked and chained up in some torchlit dungeon. Other were shown more or less dressed in diaphanous dancing gowns, posing lewdly as though performing for their Avatar. But most surprising were the collared slaves sitting quite dignified in lavish chambers dressed in aristocratic finery. Asami couldn't help but wonder if the naked prisoners, erotic dancers or formal slave-nobles had been any more or less beloved by their Avatars than any of the others.

"Opal, can I ask you a question?" Asami asked, as Opal turned a corner into a hallway that look barely any different from all the other hallways.

"Sure," Opal replied. "You can ask me anything you like. That's kind of the whole point, really."

"How long will it be before I stop getting lost in this place?" Asami asked.

Opal chuckled. "Depends on your sense of direction. But most people figure it out sooner or later. The place fits together pretty logically. Until then, you can always ask a guard," she added, nodding to one of the collared, uniformed women lining the hallway.

"I suppose that's true. Still, I'd rather not waste time wandering until I stumble onto where I'm supposed to be."

"It'll be fine," said Opal breezily. "I think the really important thing to remember is that when you hear the gongs ringing, you should just follow the crowds and you'll get where you need to be."

"The gongs?" Asami asked.

"Oh, right, I should probably explain that," said Opal.

"Probably," Asami agreed.

"Alright, so, we all serve the Avatar in our own ways, right?" Opal began as she and Asami veered around two naked slaves that were down on their knees industriously scrubbing the sparkling floor.

"Of course," said Asami.

"But there are some things we all do together all the time with no exceptions. Well, with few exceptions. We all wake up together, we all eat together, we all bathe together, and we all go to sleep together."

"And I assume the gong rings when it's time for one of those things?" Asami asked.

"Got it in one," Opal said. "Of course, it could be that your duties stop you joining in. I mean, there still have to be some people on guard even when the rest of us eats, right? And it's always possible the Avatar's got us tied up somewhere."

"Literally or metaphorically?" Asami asked.

Opal grinned. "Depends on her mood."

"You know," Asami said as she followed Opal around still another near-identical corner, "you're a lot more... relaxed than I was expecting. I'd have expected my instructor to be a bit more intense, so to speak."

"You mean like Kuvira?" Opal asked.

"Essentially," Asami admitted.

"Kuvira is the wolfbat our Mistress sends at people to frighten them off," Opal said. "Because when someone talks to her for, like, ten minutes and they still want to join up, they're probably for real. But Kuvira's not really... flexible. So it's me and girls like me who get to ease the newcomers into their new lives. It's important to know what you're getting into, but it's also important to know you don't have be a complete fanatic all the time."

"Just some of the time?" Asami asked.

"Exactly," Opal replied. "Ah, here we are."

Even before walking through the doorway, Asami felt the air getting warmer and tinged with a slight humidity.

"The baths?" she guessed.

"Right. Officially it's not time for us to bathe, but you've been on the road a while and I'm guessing it's been a long day, so, I figured you could use a bath," Opal said.

"You're not wrong," Asami admitted.

* * * * *

The bath seemed more like a shallow swimming pool to Asami. The room seemed almost as vast as the Throne Room, and for a moment Asami wondered which one was actually bigger. The Throne Room was designed to impress on visitors the vast and eternal might of the Avatars, but the bath was supposed to hold the harem of the Avatar. Avatar Korra's harem, anyway. There was no possible way a single bath, even one this big, could've held all of Avatar Kyoshi's slaves.

The walls were decorated with soothing, stylized paintings of foggy mountains and calm lakes. Ranged along the sides of the bath stood dozens of stone statues, each holding a tray containing brushes and sponges, soaps and shampoos.

Trying to ignore how very small she felt in this cavernous room, Asami stepped into the warm water. She sighed contently as she sat down on the stone floor and the water covered her up to the shoulders.

_She'd met Avatar Korra._

It still hadn't really sunk in. Avatar Korra had spoken to her and seen her body and she'd seemed so... normal. Which was impossible, she was the Avatar. But perhaps it was possible Avatar Korra was a person capable of caring not just for the world, not just for the whole of humanity and the spirits, but also, maybe, for individuals. All those paintings of long-dead harem slaves suggested that past Avatars had loved their slaves, in their own ways. Even the ones locked in dungeons.

Asami felt herself relax when Opal's soapy hands brushed against her back. The way her hands glided across her bare skin suggested Opal wasn't just interested in scrubbing her clean as efficiently as possible. Right now, Asami was happy to let her.

"You don't really have a problem with other women touching you, do you?" Opal said.

"Intimately, you mean?" Asami said.

"Mm-hmm," Opal hummed as her hands rounded Asami's shoulders.

"No, not particularly," Asami replied. "I wouldn't say I'm... experienced, but... I do enjoy it."

"That's good," said Opal.

"Why do you ask?" Asami said. "Are... Does the Avatar own slaves who aren't interested in women?"

"A few," Opal said. "People give themselves to the Avatar for all sorts of reasons. Not all of them do so because our Mistress is beautiful and they want to have sex with her."

"But they do have to, right?" Asami asked. "Have sex with her? Sometimes?"

Asami felt Opal's naked body press against her back while her soft hands drifted to the front of her body and caressed her breasts. Until now, Asami had barely noticed Opal's nudity, or her own for that matter. Their nakedness had just been a fact. But here, in this beautifully relaxing bath, with Opal's fingertips gliding across her breasts, Asami could feel her arousal stirring.

"We all serve the Avatar in the way she requires of us," Opal said, which wasn't really an answer. "But Avatar Korra is wise enough to make proper use of her slaves."

"Hmm," said Asami.

Opal's hands had traveled to her hardening nipples. Asami felt her fingers caress and squeeze them in ways that had absolutely nothing to do with getting them clean.

"This is starting to remind me of those trashy romance novels," said Asami.

"Oh? Which ones?"

"Oh, you know the ones," said Asami. "The tragic and stunningly beautiful harem girl who finds a secret and forbidden love with the dashingly handsome stablehand or something."

"Urgh. Those," Opal said. "And then they always elope and live happily ever after away from the Avatar. I've always disliked those."

"Yeah," said Asami. "Too many scenes of the girl pining after the someone who's not the Avatar, too few of her performing her harem duties to the Avatar."

"Right?" said Opal. "Such a waste."

"Although I don't think girls like us were ever the target audience for those novels," said Asami.

"Probably not," said Opal, while her hands traveled down to Asami's stomach. "Although that does remind me of an important point."

"Which is?" Asami asked.

"You're absolutely allowed to have sex with anyone else in our Mistress' harem if you all feel like it. In fact, Avatar Korra encourages it. But you are completely forbidden from having sex with anyone outside of the harem. We are all the Avatar's possessions and it's up to her to decide if someone else can have us, not us."

"What about relationships?" Asami said.

"Same thing, pretty much," Opal replied. "Allowed within the harem, grounds for expulsion outside of it."

"Do you have someone?" said Asami.

Opal chuckled. "The Avatar has me. Beyond that... well, you don't need to know."

"Fair enough," said Asami, as she leaned back against Opal's body.

* * * * *

At the ringing of the gongs, Opal took Asami to a dining hall. It was as vast and cavernous as the bath had been, but Asami didn't feel nearly as small or alone here as she had there. One of the main reasons, of course, being that she wasn't alone.

Scores of women filled up the room and more were filing in all the time. Most of them were naked, some were dressed and everyone wore the Avatar's blue collar. Opal had guided Asami to a seat, then left to get them both something to eat.

Asami tried not to stare at the naked bodies surrounding her, but it was an impossible effort. No matter where she looked, she saw soft, bare skin. Earlier, maybe, that wouldn't have affected her. But Opal's gentle bathing of her body had left her tingly and just seeing her fellow slaves was enough for Asami to grow wetter.

She'd have to ask Opal if the Avatar's slaves were allowed to masturbate.

Trying to distract herself from the heat rising in her core, Asami tried to focus not on her fellow harem slaves, but on what they were doing. Which was eating, in a very functional, very non-seductive way.

Dinner this evening appeared to be rice with plums. But not everyone was eating it properly, Asami noticed. Some women ate properly with chopsticks - and indeed there were more women eating with chopsticks than there were women wearing clothes - but most did not. Most women ate with their hands.

Asami grabbed one of the carafes scattered about the long table and poured herself a glass of water while she pondered this.

Someone sat down opposite of Asami in a very deliberate kind of way. She was... well, at first glance she seemed an unremarkable kind of woman. Not particularly pretty, not particularly strong. Not particularly gifted with emotion, either. Her face seemed completely devoid of expression. Even her eyes said nothing.

Her glasses were old-fashioned and her clothes were strictly functional. The only thing that saved her outfit from being unbearably drab was the fact they were Avatar blue.

Looking at nothing in particular, the woman raised her bowl of rice and started eating with an almost mechanical efficiency. Asami noticed she was one of those who did have chopsticks.

"Right, dinner is served," Opal announced, appearing next to Asami. "Oh, hi Zhu Li."

The woman addressed as Zhu Li lowered her bowl slightly to nod a polite greeting. "Hello Opal."

"Dig in," Opal said, handing a bowl of food to Asami.

"Thanks," said Asami. 

She wasn't surprised when Opal didn't hand her any chopsticks. Asami grabbed a little bowl of fluffy rice from her bowl and popped it into her mouth.

"Just like that, huh?" Opal remarked. "Most newcomers ask where their chopsticks are."

"The Avatar hasn't given me any," said Asami. "So I don't have any."

"Figured that out, did you?" Opal said. "Too bad. This is usually the moment to really impress on a new slave they really don't own anything any more."

"Sorry to spoil your big moment," Asami smiled.

"Oh, I think I'll get mine," said Opal. "Anyway, Zhu Li, I, uh, I see you're dressed."

"Unfortunately so," Zhu Li replied.

"I'm sorry," said Opal.

"I think I missed a big part of the conversation there," said Asami.

"Zhu Li doesn't have any clothes," said Opal. "So if she's dressed, that means she's about to leave the Palace."

"And the Avatar," Zhu Li added. "But I have my duty, so that's that."

"Where are you going? If you don't mind my asking," Asami said.

"Republic City," said Zhu Li. "Future Industries just came into the Avatar's possession. I'm being sent there to make sure the transition is a smooth one."

"Oh," said Asami. "I'm sorry."

"I'm glad you are," said Zhu Li. "But I want you to know, I don't blame you for giving yourself to the Avatar. Even if it means I get sent away for a while."

"I'm sure Mistress Korra will make it up to you when you get back," said Opal. "Or maybe she'll have Asami here do it."

"I hope so," Zhu Li replied blandly.

* * * * *

"And this is the bedroom," Opal announced grandly.

It was a very accurate word for it, Asami had to admit. It was a room and it had a bed. And nothing else. There wasn't even so much as a wardrobe and Asami idly wondered where slaves who'd been granted the privilege of clothes kept them. Maybe there was a separate room for them elsewhere in the Palace.

The bed was round with blue sheets and when Opal sat down on its edge, she seemed like a doll in comparison.

"This is where you'll be sleeping," Opal said.

"And everyone else as well, I assume," said Asami.

"Almost everyone," said Opal. "There are a bunch of bedrooms all over. But you and I'll be sleeping here. Technically, I have my own room, but I prefer sleeping here. Nothing like falling asleep in the middle of a crowd."

"You have your own room?" Asami asked.

Opal smiled. "Oh, didn't I mention that?"

Opal had her own room when even chopsticks were a right that had to be granted by the Avatar. Asami wondered just how high Opal stood in the harem hierarchy. No, that was the wrong question. Everyone in the harem was an equal slave to the Avatar. But perhaps some slaves were more cherished than others.

"Lie down," Opal ordered.

There was something about her voice that made Asami shiver. It was still quite breezy, but a hint of metal had crept in as well. And Avatar Korra _had_ told her Opal's orders would have the weight of the Avatar's herself.

Asami got up on the gigantic bed and, on hands and knees, crawled towards the center. She could feel Opal watching her as she crawled past and wondered if there was a shimmer between her legs for her to enjoy.

Asami decided not to head all the way to the exact middle of the bed. It seemed presumptuous, somehow. When she felt she was far enough along, she lay down on her back as Opal had instructed. She saw Opal come crawling towards her on all-fours, grinning at her like a dolphincat.

Opal lay down next to Asami. Her hand traveled slowly across Asami's bare skin. Without the thin excuse of bathing, the light touch of Opal's fingertips quickly awoke Asami's arousal. She breathed in deeply as she felt her body fill with lust.

"You reacted very well in the bath," Opal said while she drew idle circles on Asami's stomach. "I wonder if now'll be any different. How're you holding up?"

"Kind of nervous," Asami admitted. "But mostly I'm getting pretty turned on."

Asami felt her pussy tingle when Opal's lips pressed softly against her neck.

"Good," Opal whispered.

Opal's hand drifted down Asami's stomach. Without thinking about it, Asami spread her legs further to allow Opal's hand slip easily between them.

Asami gasped when Opal's fingertips brushed against her wet folds. Her arousal had been swelling and fading ever since the bath, but now there was no question of her lust dying on its own. If Opal were to yank her hand away right now Asami'd just replace it with her own. Then it'd be up to Opal to tell her whether she was actually allowed to or not.

Fortunately, that wasn't necessary. Opal moved her hand up and down Asami's slit gently, filling her with soft pleasure. She touched her almost playfully, her fingers exploring Asami's glistening pussy seemingly at random. Moving her this way and that, touching her here and there. And all the way, Asami felt her body heat up while soft gasps of pleasure spilled from her lips.

Asami mewed when Opal leaned in and kissed her breasts. Her lips touched her as lightly as her hand did, but the gentle feel of her mouth on her curves was enough to add still more fuel to the growing fires of Asami's lust.

Opal kissed her away across Asami chest, her gentle lips touching her over and over again. All the way, her hand moved delicately up and down Asami's dripping pussy. Lying there, Asami was convinced her lustful body had already slickened Opal's fingers with her juices and was staining the blue sheets below them.

As Asami's pleasure grew, so did her frustration. The light and delicate way Opal touched her was enough to arouse her and fill her body with trembling pleasure, but she already knew it wouldn't ever be more than that. Beautiful as it was how Opal treated her, she wouldn't be able to come like this. And the more Opal's lips caressed her breasts or her fingers glided across her folds, the more Asami wanted to come.

Asami squirmed on the sheets, moving her hips against Opal's hand, hoping she could guide those skilled fingers towards her aching clit. But Opal deftly ignored the mute demands of Asami's body, her fingertips continuing their leisurely exploration of her pussy without ever coming close to Asami's clit. Or at least, close enough.

Opal kissed her way up the curves of Asami's breasts until she was nuzzling her neck.

"Do you want to come?" Opal whispered, while her fingers kept teasing Asami's drenched pussy.

"Yes," Asami whimpered.

"You're allowed to come whenever you want," Opal growled. "Unless our Mistress forbids it. Or it interferes with your duties."

Asami would've laughed if Opal's wretched, gorgeous hand hadn't still been caressing her. A lecture? Now? While her body burned with pleasure and ached for release?

"Please?" Asami pleaded. "Make me come."

Opal didn't say anything in response, but Asami felt her slip two fingers into her. She groaned with pleasure when she felt Opal's fingertips brush against her heated inner walls, her core tightening around the slender digits.

Opal moved her fingers back and forth and back and forth, gently fucking Asami. Asami felt her body react far less gently. Raw pleasure soared through her naked body, forcing lustful moans from her lips. She started clawing at the shiny blue sheets, grabbing them as though she might fall if she were to let go.

She moaned and trashed and shuddered, bucking her hips at Opal's hand while the girl fucked her with an amused smile on her face.

Gongs rang throughout the Palace of the Avatar. Asami barely heard them, and certainly didn't understand them.

While Opal's fingers slid easily along Asami's walls, her thumb pushed up against her clit. Asami screamed incoherently as she felt Opal rub against the sensitive nub, fire raging through her body. Opal couldn't stimulate her clit as delicately or expertly as she'd caressed her pussy, but Asami was so worked up by now it no longer mattered.

Fucked and fingered, Opal drove Asami further, her naked body ravished by primal pleasure. The lustful flames that danced along every one of her nerves consumed her. Whining and moaning, undulating against Opal's skilled hand, Asami felt herself getting ever closer.

Korra's naked, collared slaves walked into the bedroom in response to the night's gongs. A huge group of women, all walking towards the bed where Opal ravished Asami's body. Most stopped to watch the Avatar's newest slave, some crawled up onto the bed ready for sleep. Asami didn't notice any of them. All she knew was Opal's fingers inside of her pussy and her thumb rubbing against her clit.

A loud, guttural groan was torn from Asami's lips as she came, Opal's fucking fingers finally driving her over the edge into orgasm. The hard pleasure that burned inside of her turned to cleansing bliss that purified her wanton body. Asami felt her release wash through her and lifting her up as though the Avatar herself was with her.

And all the while, Opal's hand kept stimulating her, sending still more pleasure after the bliss ravaging her. Asami mewed and moaned and shuddered all throughout her release. Her flailing arms and twitching legs hit the naked bodies next to her, but their presence barely made themselves felt amid the rapture soaring through her.

Finally, panting, Asami came down from her orgasm.

Finally, too, did she notice she was no longer alone with Opal.

A huge cheer went up from the harem slaves surrounding. Her fellow harem slaves. Maybe they'd enjoyed the show, maybe having sex in front of all of her fellow slaves was a kind of rite of passage. Asami waved a weak hand at all those complete strangers who'd just watched her come.

She ought to feel... different, Asami knew. Embarrassed, maybe. Ashamed. But no. It was pretty hard to feel bad after Opal had made her come so beautifully. Besides, they all belonged to the Avatar. That made them all one, somehow. Intimate.

Opal kissed her on the lips.

"You did great," she whispered.

"Yes," Kuvira agreed, as she struggled through the mass of bodies to lie on the side of Asami opposite to Opal's. "The Avatar will be pleased."

"Well, I live to serve," Asami said, smiling faintly.

"Yes," said Kuvira. "You do."


	4. Chapter 4

Interesting how people could change a place. The vast bath had been silent and soothing when Asami had been there with just Opal. Even though the space was large, just the two of them in that warm water had created an intimate atmosphere. Which, Asami now realized, Opal had taken advantage of to judge how easily Asami could or would be intimate with other women.

Now the bath was full of harem slaves taking their mandatory morning bath. Asami found herself surrounded by naked women getting clean and chattering to each other. The place was crowded and noisy, which robbed the bath of its alluring sense of intimacy.

Odd really, Asami considered as she soaped her arms. She'd thought all those collared women of the Avatar might arouse at least a little excitement in her, but the whole thing was curiously sexless. They were here because the Avatar had ordered them to and the Avatar had ordered them to so they could get clean, not so they could have sex.

Although, Asami noticed, peering through the bodies around her, there were at least a few women who'd decided to mix business with pleasure. She'd caught only a distant glimpse before the bathing mob around her shifted and she'd lost sight of the kissing women. Probably for the best. She wouldn't want to get distracted, right?

"Nice, isn't it?"

Asami looked up, surprised that anyone who wasn't Opal or perhaps Kuvira would talk to her. The woman who'd spoken turned out to be the tall guard with the forehead tattoo. She smiled faintly as she washed the shampoo out of her hair.

"It's certainly a new experience," Asami said, eyeing the crowd.

"We're so lucky the Avatar lets us bathe every day," the tall woman said. "I'd have killed for that before. Heck, I'd have killed to have a bath once a month."

Asami opened her mouth once or twice, but no words came. She really didn't know how to respond. To her, baths had always just... been there. She could always have a bath whenever she wanted. Or if she didn't want to. The option was always open to her. It was just a fact of life.

And now she was talking to a woman to whom baths were a luxury. Who considered herself lucky that the Avatar, the woman who owned their bodies, wanted them clean.

Opal had told Asami that people gave themselves to the Avatar for all sorts of reasons. Asami wondered what this woman's reason had been. She wasn't sure she actually wanted to know.

* * * * *

Asami walked out of the bathroom together with everyone else, just one part of a multitude, feeling both refreshed and still a bit disconcerted. She realized she didn't even know the tall woman's name. Too late to ask now. She'd lost sight of her in the crowd. Maybe next time she saw her. If she saw her. It was a large Palace and the harem had a lot of people in it.

"Hey, you! Uhm, the new girl!"

Asami stopped, causing a few people behind her to bump into her before the flow of bodies began moving around her. The woman who'd spoken to her turned out to be collared guard.

"Me?" Asami said.

"Yeah, you," said the guard. "Mistress Korra wants to see you in the orchid garden."

"I'll go there right away," Asami answered promptly. "But, I don't actually know where that is."

Asami felt someone's hand land amiably on her shoulder. Even without looking around, she knew it was Opal.

"Don't you worry," Opal said. "I'll get you there."

* * * * *

The orchid garden was not one of the Palace's greatest gardens. It was a small, walled space, away from most of the prominent buildings. A lot of the Palace and its surroundings had been designed to impress on visitors the immortal power of the Avatar, but the orchid garden wasn't designed to impress visitors. It was a quiet and peaceful little corner of the grounds.

The orchid garden did live up to its names. Orchids bloomed everywhere, painting the small garden in a riot of colors and filling the air with their fragrant scents. And, amid all those flowers, sitting on a small stone bench, was Avatar Korra.

Asami froze on the spot. It would be wrong to say she was used to Avatar Korra, but she was familiar with her public appearance, at least. And Avatar Korra had always dressed simply, looking more like a warrior from the Water Tribe than the Eternal Keeper of Balance she actually was.

Today Avatar Korra had apparently decided to dress up a bit. She wore a simple, but well-made gown that clung seductively to her body. Her arms were bare and high slits left her legs exposed. Whoever had designed it must have been a genius, because the dress managed to draw attention to both her softer curves and her harder muscles without creating even a hint of contradiction. A few tasteful pieces of silver jewelry completed the ensemble.

The dress was blue, of course. The same blue of Asami's collar. The Avatar's blue.

Sitting in her elegant dress amid the flagrant flowers, Avatar Korra looked like... like... well, like _the Avatar_. Someone who was completely beyond ordinary humans and that obviously included her beauty.

"Asami, you're here," Avatar Korra said cheerfully.

Asami could feel herself blushing and wondered if she was supposed to fling herself to the ground in supplication. Opal was still standing, though, so perhaps she wasn't?

"Yes, Mistress Korra," Asami replied.

"And I see my Opal brought you," Avatar Korra continued.

"Of course, Mistress Korra," Opal said. "If I hadn't she'd have got lost and you would've waited a long time for her, Mistress Korra. I couldn't let that happen."

"Very thoughtful of you," said Avatar Korra. "Come here, Opal."

Opal walked to the stone bench where the Avatar sat and knelt in the grass. Avatar Korra asked a few whispered questions and Opal whispered her replies in return. Asami strained to hear, but couldn't. Were they talking about her? Was the Avatar asking about her?

That was a prideful thought, wasn't it? That the Avatar, the one woman who was responsible for the whole world, might be especially interested in her. On the other hand, Asami was the Avatar's newest slave, so maybe they were just a few routine questions about how things were going, if she was settling in alright, that sort of thing.

When the whispered conversation came to an end, Opal rose to her feet, turned and left the quiet garden. As she passed Asami, she grinned at her and gave her a quick wink. Then she was gone, leaving Asami alone with the Avatar.

Asami could feel her mouth going dry and the heat rising in her naked body. Naked! She was completely naked! She'd got used to her constant nudity pretty quickly, but now her nudity was on display for the Avatar! Of course, Avatar Korra had seen her naked before, but that had been in the presence of Kuvira and Opal in a formal presentation. Now she was alone with the Avatar in this beautiful little garden while also totally naked!

"Asami, come over here."

Avatar Korra's command cut through the confusion crowding Asami's thoughts. She walked to the stone bench. It must have taken only a moment or two, but it seemed an eternity. She found herself hyper-aware of the sunlight on her skin, the grass under her bare feet, the scent of flowers in the air. The Avatar getting ever closer.

When Asami reached Avatar Korra, she knelt in the grass. Opal had done it, so it seemed the safest thing to do.

Asami felt Avatar Korra gently taking hold of her chin and lift her head up, forcing Asami to look into her blue eyes. She wanted to sink into those eyes. She wanted to drown in Avatar Korra and be with her forever.

"I probably shouldn't tell you this, but... I remember you," Avatar Korra said. "From before, you know. In Republic City. It was only a moment, but it stuck with me. Do you remember?"

Asami blinked. Avatar Korra remembered seeing her? But it had been in the middle of a battle and the Avatar had only given her the barest glance. How could she remember her?

"Of course, Mistress Korra," Asami replied. "It never left me. I think... I think that was the moment I knew I was going to belong to you, Mistress Korra."

Avatar Korra chuckled. "Funny, really. That's the moment I knew I wanted to have you."

Asami was at a loss for words. The Avatar had wanted her? Her, specifically? It seemed impossible.

Avatar Korra caressed Asami's cheek. A small shiver of arousal coursed through Asami's body.

"Years ago, I promised myself I would never actively try to recruit anyone for my harem," Avatar Korra continued. "Past Avatars did that sometimes. It worked out once in a while, but mostly it didn't. So I decided I'd only ever take people who willingly offered themselves to me. When I saw you... well, I kind of regretted that decision. I was really tempted to go back on it. I mean, who was going to say no? I'm the Avatar."

"But you didn't, Mistress Korra," Asami said. "In the end I contacted you."

"Imagine my delight once I realized it was you," said Avatar Korra.

Asami closed her eyes, tried to breathe calmly. Her heart beat so hard she was sure Avatar Korra could hear it.

"I almost didn't send Kuvira. She's managed to make people change their minds about becoming my slave before and I didn't want to risk that with you. I thought about sending Ginger or Opal to get you. Or even going myself."

"You didn't need to worry, Mistress Korra," Asami said. "I belong to you."

"You have no idea how happy I am to hear you say that," said Avatar Korra.

Asami felt Avatar Korra's hand caress her cheek, then down to her chin, then felt her touch leave her face entirely.

"Look at me," Avatar Korra commanded.

Asami did so - what else could she do? The Avatar smiled with glittering eyes. She reached down to the lower part of her dress and twitched it aside, revealing her bare legs and bare waist and hairy pussy.

Asami gasped at the sudden sight of the Avatar exposed to her. She wanted to dive forward, to kiss that glistening pussy, but held back. There were any number of things she was allowed to do without the Avatar's explicit consent - like breathing - but she was certain that pleasuring the Avatar was not one of them.

Asami watched Avatar Korra's right hand slide down to her moist slit and felt an irrational stab of anger. The Avatar shouldn't pleasure herself. It should be Asami. Or Opal. Or Kuvira. Or... or any of her slaves. Avatar Korra had a vast harem to serve her every need. To watch her hand glide over her pussy, to see her working to please herself, it was... it was terrible. It was practically heresy.

"Please, Mistress Korra," Asami pleaded, unsure if she was allowed to speak and uncaring either way. "Please let me pleasure you, Mistress Korra."

Asami watched Avatar Korra's hand move slowly up and down her core for several agonizing moments more. It was almost too much to bear.

"My Opal tells me you have a bit of experience with other women?" Avatar Korra purred.

"Yes, Mistress Korra," Asami panted. "Please, Mistress Korra."

"Alright then," Avatar Korra said, mercifully removing her hand at last. "Show me what you've learned."

Asami lunged forward eagerly, pressing her lips against Avatar Korra's moist folds. The thick scent of the Avatar's lust filled her nose, overpowering the pale, irrelevant scent of the garden's orchids. She kissed the Avatar's pussy wildly, pressing her mouth against her sensitive flesh over and over again.

What to do? What to do? Asami wanted to taste Avatar Korra's lust as long as possible, but shouldn't she be thinking of the Avatar's pleasure? Instead of randomly kissing her pussy, shouldn't she be dragging her tongue towards her clit and play with it until her Mistress came? Wasn't that the proper way for a harem slave to behave?

Asami risked a glance up. Her Mistress Korra looked down on her, a smile playing on her lips. She didn't seem inclined to offer Asami any guidance on what she wanted, but she appeared pleased enough. For now.

Asami returned to kissing Avatar Korra's slit. More slowly, this time. Deliberately pressing her lips against the Avatar's sensitive folds here and there. Once in a while she let her tongue slip from her mouth and lapped up some of Avatar Korra's excitement.

At one point, Asami thought she heard Avatar Korra sigh. It might just have been the wind, but she didn't think so. Quiet though it had been, it hadn't sounded like a disappointed sigh either. Hopefully this meant she really was pleasing her Mistress. After all, there wasn't a single one of Avatar Korra's harem slaves that had less experience pleasuring her than Asami. Even the ones who weren't normally into women had probably had more practice pleasing their Mistress' pussy.

Asami tried to put the thought of her mind, but it kept crawling back in anyway. Avatar Korra had so many skilled slaves, why should she bother with her? So that she could _become_ skilled, Asami decided. So that she could serve the Avatar properly. This was all part of her training as Avatar Korra's harem slave.

Asami kissed Avatar Korra deeply in an attempt to drown her bothersome thoughts in her own work and the Avatar's taste. She pressed her mouth as firmly against the Avatar's slit as she could manage and pushed her tongue deep into her. Her Mistress was wet and hot and Asami tasted her wet lust all over her tongue. She writhed inside her core, doing her best to lap at her inner walls.

Avatar Korra moaned with pleasure. An actual moan. The lustful noise crashed into Asami and shuddered through her naked body to ignite a fire between her legs. She might've been faking it. Perhaps. A benevolent Mistress pretending to be pleased by an enthusiastic if hapless slave. But Asami didn't think so. Surely Avatar Korra would correct her if she was doing things wrong? 

Energized by the sound, Asami kept her lips pressed against Avatar Korra's slit, let her tongue keep wriggling inside of her. Finally, and far too soon, she had to come up for air. The Avatar's pleasure trickled down her throat and oozed down her chin. Surely there was no faking _that_.

Asami dove right back in as soon as she could. This time, instead of kissing Avatar Korra's pussy, she let her tongue slip out of her mouth and let its tip dance all across the Avatar's folds.

Above her, Avatar Korra groaned. The noise made Asami so wet she was certain her pussy was dripping her excitement onto the grass. The muscles in her arms screamed at her to move, to slip a hand between her own legs. She resisted the urge easily. She was here, now, kneeling between the Avatar's legs, to serve Mistress Korra's pleasure. If she masturbated, she'd be dividing her attention between the Avatar and one of the Avatar's slaves and that was just unthinkable.

The tip of Asami's tongue danced across Avatar Korra's pussy, drawing wild circles all across her intimate flesh. The Avatar moaned almost constantly now, filling the air of the garden with the music of her pleasure. Asami wondered how close her Mistress was to coming and decided it wasn't close enough.

Asami let her tongue travel up to Avatar Korra's clit. The Avatar grunted when the tip of her tongue brushed against that sensitive nub. Asami dragged her tongue across it and around it. She licked it and kissed it. Sometimes she pressed her lips ever so lightly against her Mistress' clit, at other times she closed her lips around it and lapped at it with her tongue.

Avatar Korra was shaking now, moaning endlessly and bucking her hips against Asami's face. Asami kept going, pouring all of her attention on the Avatar Korra's clit. Her lips and tongue devoted to the worship of this one small part of the Avatar's body that still filled her Mistress with so much pleasure.

Groaning, arching her body against Asami's mouth, the Avatar came. Asami moved quickly, her tongue slithering down her Mistress' pussy to lap up her climactic fluids. Avatar Korra moaned loudly with bliss and the noise echoed through Asami. It was almost as if Avatar Korra poured her orgasm into Asami, heating her slave's body with the fire of her climax. Asami practically felt her clit throb demandingly as she tasted the Avatar's orgasm. It was as if her body felt that it, too, was somehow owed some pleasure. But that was the animalistic impulse of a body that had for too long belonged to an Asami that no longer existed. An Asami who had no Mistress.

Asami kept lavishing the Avatar's pussy with attention while doing her best to ignore the constant demands of her own. She'd masturbate later, perhaps, when her Mistress had dismissed her and she had nothing else to do. For now, she worked to make Avatar Korra come as much and as long as possible. She kissed and licked and lapped at the Avatar's core like a wild woman while Avatar Korra moaned and thrashed through her orgasm.

"Enough," Avatar Korra panted at last. "That's... enough."

Asami withdrew from between Avatar Korra's legs. Knelt quietly on the grass to wait for the Avatar's next command while the juices of the Avatar's orgasm dripped from her chin and landed on her bare breasts.

"So," said Avatar Korra, pulling herself together, "that was... pretty good. You did very well."

Pleasure flowed through Asami and for a moment she thought the Avatar's praise might've made her come.

"Thank you, Mistress Korra," she gasped.

"You know, I'm wondering just how skilled you are."

Before Asami could ask her Mistress what she meant, the Avatar grabbed one of Asami arms and pulled her up and into her lap. Asami felt herself tense up with excitement, sitting in the Avatar's lap, held by one of the Avatar's arm, the Avatar's body touching her own. She became aware that her pussy was staining Avatar Korra's dress with her excitement, but it seemed her Mistress didn't mind. Or perhaps hadn't noticed.

Avatar Korra's free hand moved down Asami's body until it slipped between her legs. Asami clenched her teeth hard, trying not to moan loudly. It was a fight against herself. Pleasuring the Avatar had left her so turned on even a breath from her Mistress might send her into a spiral of lust.

"Feels like you really enjoyed yourself," Avatar Korra said as her hand moved lightly up and down Asami's wet slit.

"Yes, Mistress Korra," Asami replied. "I love serving you, Mistress Korra."

Avatar Korra lightly kissed Asami's neck. Asami squirmed in the Avatar's lap, panting with arousal.

"That's nice to hear," Avatar Korra whispered. "Though I doubt you'd have got this turned on if I'd had you ironing my clothes or something."

"I exist to serve you, Mistress Korra," Asami said.

Avatar Korra kept kissing Asami's neck. Asami wished she'd stop and wanted her to keep going forever. Every time the Avatar's lips brushed against her skin the aroused fire inside of her flared up all the harder. In some way, her Mistress' intimate little kisses were almost more powerful than her gently touching her pussy.

"And as my 'loyal servant' you'll do as I say?" Avatar Korra asked.

"Of course, Mistress Korra," Asami moaned.

"Don't. Come," Avatar Korra commanded.

Avatar Korra's fingers slipped up to Asami's clit. Asami gasped as the white-hot pleasure rushed through her. The feeling was almost too much. To have pleasured the Avatar, to be held by her and kissed by her and to now be fingered by her. Asami felt she might come in an instant, moments after her Mistress had ordered her not to.

Asami fought the feeling back down. Tried to ignore the pleasure rampaging through her, pretended not to feel her Mistress' skilled fingers toying with her clit. She was going to lose this struggle, she knew. She couldn't resist. How could anyone resist Avatar Korra? But she was going to hold on as long as she could and, hopefully, not disappoint Avatar Korra too much.

Asami wished she didn't feel the Avatar's fingertips gliding back down her glistening slit again. Feeling her rub her clit was bad and wonderful enough, but she could sort of deal with it. The pleasure, hard and powerful, was expected and maybe she could ride it without coming for a while. But feeling the Avatar's hand move across her folds, not quite knowing what might happen next, left her vulnerable. The soft touch of the Avatar's fingers kept Asami deftly aroused and her naked body humming with pleasure.

Asami took a few deep, shuddering breaths. Control, that was the thing. If she could get herself calmed down, maybe she wouldn't give in to the Avatar. Not right away. Maybe she'd be able to delay her orgasm long enough. Maybe she could actually obey.

Asami felt Avatar Korra slide her fingers into her dripping core and immediately knew it was futile. She moaned loudly as the lust crowded her lungs and pleasure ripped through her body. Avatar Korra's fingers curled and moved inside of her, caressing her overheated inner walls.

Asami found herself moaning and mewling with pleasure, trembling in her Mistress' grip while she casually fingered her. Control? She had no control. Her body belonged to the Avatar and it was hers to do with as she pleased. Trying not to feel what the Avatar wanted her to feel was a futile effort, doomed to failure.

Still, she had to try, hadn't she? Avatar Korra had ordered not to come so she couldn't come. Not even with the Avatar's fingers sliding in and out of her pussy or moving up to dance around her clit.

Asami could feel her naked body begin burning ever hotter with pleasure while the Avatar skillfully played with her glistening slit. She could feel her lust pounding in her veins, filling her lungs and clouding her mind. There was nothing, nothing but her Mistress' hand pleasing her sensitive folds and the pleasure consuming her body.

"Please," Asami managed to whimper. "Please, Mistress Korra."

"Hmm?" Avatar Korra said. "Please what?"

"Please, may I come, Mistress Korra?" Asami begged.

"No," said Avatar Korra harshly. "I forbid it."

Asami yelped with disappointment and pleasure. There was no way she could contain this. Avatar Korra could command whatever she liked, but her words couldn't stop her body reacting the way it did to her hand. Every time Avatar Korra fingered her clit or fucked her pussy the raging fires within her roared that much higher and there was no way the pleasure would not consume her.

But Avatar Korra had forbidden it! She couldn't come!

But Avatar Korra pleased her so beautifully! She was going to come!

It was forbidden! Avatar Korra had said...

Avatar Korra. Avatar Korra! Avatar Korra owned her body and she demanded her body not come. Avatar Korra. She had to focus only on her. There was only her. Korra. Avatar Korra. Korra. Korra. KorraKorraKorraKorra _Korra_ Korra **Korra _Korra_**!

"Well done."

Wha...? Huh?

Asami blinked, bewildered. The mad mantra crowding her brain withdrawing slowly. Her body was still hot and throbbing with pleasure, but it was less urgent, less overwhelming. Avatar Korra's hand was no longer playing with her pussy. Instead she felt it embracing her, together with the other. Avatar Korra was holding her, embracing her.

"Didn't think you'd manage it to be honest." Avatar Korra's voice came from miles away. "But you held it together. I'm very proud of you."

"Mistress Korra..." Asami managed. She didn't know what she was going to say next. There was nothing to say. She'd done well. Avatar Korra was proud of her.

Avatar Korra kissed her softly, on the lips. Seemed wrong somehow. Too intimate. The Avatar shouldn't kiss a slave so gently and lovingly, should she? But then, who was she to say the Avatar was wrong.

"Is there anything you want?" Avatar Korra asked awkwardly. "I mean, you did good today, so... name it. Anything."

Asami stared dumbfounded at the Avatar until her brain caught up with her Mistress' words. Anything she wanted? She could ask for anything she wanted?

She could ask permission to come. She was safe now, more or less, but her body was still aroused. Her bare skin still hummed with the embers of pleasure, waiting to ignite and ravish her all over again. To be brought to orgasm by _the Avatar_...

She could also ask for something a bit more practical, the rational part of her brain cut in. Something not so driven by her animal needs. She could ask for chopsticks, for example. They were practical and she did need a couple. She couldn't keep eating with her hands. And chopsticks, well, they were nothing to the Avatar. Surely some chopsticks wouldn't be too much to ask?

"Did... did I serve you well, Mistress Korra?" Asami asked.

Avatar Korra chuckled. "Yes, my Asami. You served me very well."

Her Asami. Avatar Korra's Asami.

"Then... I don't need anything else. Mistress Korra."

Avatar Korra looked at her quietly for a few moments longer, searching Asami's face with her impossibly blue eyes.

"Alright. If that's what you want. I wish I could keep you here all day, but I have business to see to. As for you, I'm cutting you loose for the day. You're free to do whatever you want, alright?"

"Yes, Mistress Korra," Asami said, a bit regretfully. She wished Avatar Korra could have kept her all day as well.

"But no masturbating," Avatar Korra said. "If one of my other harem slaves wants to have sex you and you feel like having sex with her, that's fine. You're even allowed to come in that case. But no masturbating. Am I clear?"

"Yes, Mistress Korra."

* * * * *

It took Asami a while to return to the central Palace. Even with it looming over everything else, the pathways between the buildings weren't always obvious. She managed it eventually and soon found her way back to the bath.

Moving slowly, Asami cleaned herself again. She'd come out of the garden a mess. Sweating, her excited pussy trickling down her inner thighs and Avatar Korra's pleasure still shimmering on her face. She'd needed to get cleaned up.

After that, Asami drifted back to the bedroom, fell on the giant bed and just lay there. There were things she could be doing. Explore the Palace some more, maybe. The Palace of the Avatar was certain to have a library _somewhere_ and perhaps she could read a bit.

Instead she just lay on the bed, staring unseeing at the ceiling. She could still feel a yearning in her pussy. Part of her wanted to slip a hand between her legs and satisfy herself. Yes, Avatar Korra had told her not to, but she wasn't here. Nobody was here. So if she masturbated right now, who would know?

She would.

Asami breathed in and out slowly. She wondered when the next gong was going to ring. She'd lost complete track of time. Could be hours from now, could be five minutes. She was kind of looking forward to it, really. It'd give her something to do. Something she **must** do. Right now, she wasn't really in the right mindset for any independent action.

She wanted to be with Avatar Korra again. Not even sexually or anything, though she wouldn't object to that. Just being in the same room as her, kneeling in her presence. That'd be enough. Maybe she should've asked for that. Too late now.

"Ah, here you are."

Asami looked up to see Opal come walk cheerily towards her. She was holding something small and blue.

"Here I am," Asami said. "Though I'm not sure why."

"Did you have any trouble finding your way back here?" Opal asked.

"What?" said Asami. "Oh. Uh. No. No, I pretty much walked here on automatic."

"See? I told you the place fits together pretty logically."

"Yeah, I guess you did," said Asami. "I wasn't really thinking to be honest."

"I'm not surprised," Opal grinned. "Being with the Avatar tends to hit us all pretty hard. Especially the first time. Speaking of which, our Mistress commanded me to give you this. It's a gift for you."

Asami stared at the offered little box. "A gift? But I didn't ask for anything."

"Yeah, well, the Avatar owns us," Opal said. "So she doesn't actually need to wait for you to ask for anything if she feels like giving you something. It's something for you to wear on your collar."

"My collar?" Asami said, touching the blue leather around her neck without thinking. "I don't... I don't think I've seen anyone wear anything on their collars."

"You're right there," said Opal.

"I... don't think I can accept this," said Asami.

"No, you have to accept this," said Opal. "You can choose not to wear it if you don't want to, but... I really can't go back to the Avatar and tell her her slave didn't feel like accepting her gift, you know?"

"You're right," said Asami, accepting the little box. "Sorry."

Opal shrugged. "Eh, it's alright. Now come on, don't keep me in suspense. What is it?"

The gift turned out to be a small, stainless steel pendant that Asami could easily clip to her collar. It was shaped like a little heart and a few words were engraved on its surface:

**Property  
of  
Avatar Korra**


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't really do fighting scenes or spanking scenes because they're not really my thing and I don't think I'm much good at them. This chapter includes both kinds of scene. Because I am good at planning, apparently.

"Humans are flawed," Kuvira declared as she began her speech.

Asami stood at attention at the border of a large training field surrounded by other new slaves also standing at attention. Around her and behind her, slaves sparred, exercised and got shouted at by their slave instructors.

"Unable to submit to a purpose greater than themselves, people strain against the Avatar's peace. Once freed, they inevitably descend into tribalism and strife."

Asami barely listened to Kuvira's speech as the woman paced back and forth in front of her group of slave recruits. It wasn't as if she was saying anything really new. The question between peaceful submission and violent freedom had been debated for centuries. Whenever the Avatar was supreme and all the world bowed before them, the philosophers leaned towards freedom. Whenever the world was torn apart by war, the philosophers became much more sympathetic towards submission.

Today, an uneasy compromise of sorts had been reached. While yes, technically, the Avatar was the world's only true authority, the various nations and kingdoms and tribes were allowed to govern themselves as best they could so long as they didn't do anything to disrupt the balance of the world.

It wouldn't last. The whole mess with the Equalists hadn't been unique. Time and again the Avatar and her forces had to intervene somewhere to stop people killing each other over the pettiest of reasons. It was only a matter of time before the next conflict erupted and Asami was determined to be there when it happened. To fight as one of Avatar Korra's slave soldier. To force the entire world to kneel before Avatar Korra if the Avatar demanded it.

"Without the Avatar, there is nothing but chaos," Kuvira continued. "Only through the Avatar can we achieve balance."

One other reason Asami wasn't paying much attention to Kuvira's speech was that Kuvira herself didn't seem to be particularly excited about delivering it. Oh, she barked the words with authority and her eyes gleamed darkly with familiar zeal, but it was obvious she'd said these words countless times before to hundreds of recruits. She was just going through the motions, if Asami was any judge.

Besides, Kuvira seemed distracted as well. Her eyes kept straying back to the metal heart Asami wore on her harem collar.

But the biggest reason Asami couldn't quite focus on Kuvira was Avatar Korra herself. She stood leaning against a wall some way away, her arms crossed in front of her chest. She looked disturbingly mundane - like she was just some random bystander who'd paused on her way to somewhere more important to enjoy a piece of street theater.

Asami stood as still as she could, her face as neutral as she could manage - every bit the ideal soldier. But Avatar Korra was _right there_. It took a lot of effort not to smile and it was utterly pointless to try and not get aroused. The giddy excitement stirring inside of her naked body was making it very hard to stay absolutely still, but Asami made the effort.

There was nothing she could do about her pussy, though. She was wet and absolutely ready for Avatar Korra to take her. She hoped Kuvira would understand, if she noticed at all. She probably would. Nobody could be so near the Avatar and not be affected.

"You may serve the Avatar as soldiers, or you may not," Kuvira said, her tone suggesting that the end of her speech was drawing near. "She will decide, not you. But whether you will serve in combat or not, the Avatar demands that Her slaves are capable of defending themselves, should the need arise. That is why you are here. Now then! Who among you can fight?"

A few hesitant hands rose into the air, Asami's among them. It wouldn't be right to lie to the instructor, but on the other hand, everybody knew someone was about to get made example of.

"Asami," Kuvira said, smirking darkly. "You can fight, can you?"

"I've had self-defense training," Asami replied, accurately enough.

"Really?" Kuvira said. "Think you can take me on, do you?"

"No, Kuvira," Asami replied.

"Well, let's see what you can do anyway," Kuvira announced. "Are you a bender in any way?"

"No," Asami answered.

"Very well," Kuvira said. "In that case, I promise I won't use my bending against you, alright? Our match should be fair, after all."

"As you say," Asami said neutrally, stepping out of the crowd and facing Kuvira.

"Whenever you're ready," Kuvira said, smiling like a dolphincat.

Asami crouched into a defensive stance. Maybe Kuvira had expected her to just wildly attack, but she wasn't about to do whatever her opponent expected.

Kuvira was a metalbender, Asami knew. She was one of the Avatar's foremost commanders, so the way she fought wasn't really a secret. She could take advantage of that. Most of her training had been all about defending against benders.

Kuvira jabbed at her a few times. Her movements were quick, measured, precise. Totally under her control. Asami dodged them easily. They were only exploratory punches anyway. Kuvira was just trying to see how she'd react. And give the rest of the recruits a show, no doubt.

Kuvira attacked again, more seriously this time. Asami danced back a few steps. The thing to do against benders was to take them down quickly. Every bender needed time to get their bending going. The better the bender, the less time they needed, so the whole point was to get in there fast before they could become too much of a threat.

That wouldn't work against Kuvira, Asami could see. She was too skilled and too alert.

But she was a metalbender. Too much of one. The way she stood, the way she moved. There were metalbending forms in there. Kuvira probably wasn't aware she was performing them, her bending too much a part of herself to separate. So she probably didn't notice the flaws in her attack or gaps in her defence. Flaws and gaps that wouldn't have been there if the metal had been flying.

Kuvira attacked again. Asami dodged three blows, then managed to grab Kuvira's arm. A look of astonishment flashed across the metalbender's face as Asami lifted her up and used the woman momentum to fling her onto her back on the ground.

There were a few giggles from the recruits.

"How _dare_ you," Kuvira growled.

Asami stood stunned. Kuvira's face had twisted with anger and her dark eyes burned with malice. She hadn't expected that reaction. Alright, so Kuvira had probably intended to show that Asami's past meant nothing. That she was just a slave like everybody else, starting at the very bottom like every other slave. That her previous life as a well-known public figure and a wealthy heiress had made her completely useless as a servant of the Avatar.

But, as it happened, she could handle herself. Surely that wasn't too big a deal? Kuvira could easily impress on the recruits the importance of never underestimating anyone. Could warn them about the dangers of overconfidence. To never hold back in a fight. Something like that.

Kuvira lunged at Asami in a wild, berserker charge. Asami was forced back, taking three blows on her arms before she could dodge away entirely. Kuvira didn't give her a moment's pause and came at her again. This time Asami was a lot more ready for her. The overwhelming rush worked when it caught the opponent by surprise or if they were an amateur. Against Asami, it was an invitation to have their whole attack turned against them.

Kuvira landed in the dirt again.

She sprung up into the air and landed heavily. The moment her feet touched the ground, the earth rose up around Asami's ankles. Asami looked down quickly to see two heavy rock shackles holding her in place. She wouldn't be able to move away and she could only dodge by twisting her body. So she couldn't really dodge.

And here Kuvira came...

**_"STOP!"_ **

Everything stopped. All across the field. Matches froze mid-blow. People who'd been exercising sat or stood. Shouting voices fell silent. Kuvira's attack ended halfway towards Asami.

The Avatar had spoken.

Avatar Korra advanced on Kuvira, looking angrier than Asami could remember ever seeing her.

"Release Asami," Avatar Korra ordered. "Now!"

Kuvira looked down, blushing with shame. All of her anger had vanished the moment the Avatar had spoken to her. She moved, seeming almost embarrassed to do so, and Asami felt the rock shackles around her ankles retreat back into the ground.

Avatar Korra nodded, then turned to the multitude on the training field and raised her voice. "Alright, everybody back to what you were doing!"

All around the field, the Avatar's slaves resumed their training as though the interruption had never happened.

"As for you lot," Avatar Korra said, addressing the group of slaves that included Asami. "Pfft, I dunno... Three laps around the field, twenty sit-ups, twenty push-ups and then you're free until the next gong. Get to it. And _you_ ," she added, glaring at Kuvira. "You come with me at once."

Avatar Korra turned on her heel and left. Kuvira followed meekly behind, all of her bravado gone.

"That... was really intense," one of the slave recruits remarked once the Avatar had gone.

"I don't think I've ever seen the Avatar so angry before," another said. "And I, uh, I spilled ink on her once."

"What made her so mad do you think?"

"I don't know. But I think Kuvira's about to get tossed into the dungeon. What do you think, Asami? Asami?"

But Asami was already halfway down the field.

* * * * *

The Palace of the Avatar was home to several libraries. Over the centuries the Avatar and the Avatar's slaves had written a lot and all of those scrolls and books had been carefully archived. Some writings had been lost over time, usually whenever rebels had set fire to the Palace again, but care had been taken to preserve most of them. The history of the Avatar was the history of the world, after all. Without the Avatar, the world wouldn't be the way it was.

Which was why most of the Palace libraries were open to the public. Or at least contained copies of important works that were regularly loaned out to schools and universities.

 _This_ library was not open to the public. It wasn't even open to those Palace servants that weren't slaves. It was a small building, at least compared to most of the other buildings on the grounds, and some care had been taken to create an intimate atmosphere.

Not everything the Avatars and their slaves had written had been works of historic importance. Quite a lot had been of a more intimate nature.

Asami squirmed in her chair as she leafed through the book she'd found. The work didn't have an official title. If it had, it might have been called something like _Physical Studies of Avatar Kyoshi_.

What it was, was a book of pictures. Each and every one of them of Avatar Kyoshi drawn or painted by one of her slaves. And Avatar Kyoshi was always portrayed naked. Sometimes she wore her signature face paint, sometimes she didn't. Sometimes she posed playfully with her fans and sometimes she loomed over the viewer like a dominatrix. Some were romantic, others downright pornographic.

Asami has never really thought of Avatar Kyoshi that way. In her mind, she'd always been the grim warrior woman who'd forced peace onto a hopelessly fractured Earth Kingdom together with her army of zealots. It was hard to imagine her performing a naked fan dance for the amusement of her slaves. Still, not even Avatar Kyoshi could have been fighting everyone all the time. Even she would have needed to relax once in a while.

"Asami, there you are."

Asami looked up, Avatar Kyoshi completely forgotten now that her Avatar stood in front of her. She stood up abruptly, then worried if maybe she ought to be kneeling.

"Mistress Korra," she said nervously.

"Calm down, you're not in trouble," Avatar Korra said. "This slave is."

Only now did Asami notice Avatar Korra hadn't arrived alone. Kuvira stood a few steps behind her. A blue leash had been attached to her slave collar, which Avatar Korra now held. Blue leather cuffs were around her ankles, chaining them together. Kuvira's arms disappeared behind her back, and Asami guessed she was shackled at the wrists as well.

"I thought she might have been, Mistress Korra," Asami ventured. "You seemed very angry with her."

"Well, of course I was," Avatar Korra replied. "This slave forgot herself and broke one of my most important rules."

Avatar Korra yanked at Kuvira's leash, forcing the woman to stumble disgracefully a few steps before righting herself again.

"And... if I may, what rule would that be, Mistress Korra?" Asami asked. "I'm still pretty new here, so I... I mean..."

"She broke a promise to you," Avatar Korra said, her voice cold with rage. "She promised she wouldn't bend during your little match and then she used bending. That's not something that can be easily forgiven."

"I just think I humiliated her, Mistress Korra," said Asami. "I think maybe she just lashed out. Mistress Korra."

"Yeah, I really don't care," Avatar Korra said. "Look, I accept that not everyone in my harem is going to be friends with everyone else. There's too many personalities for that to be realistic. But you are all my slaves and as my slaves, you serve me alone. Right?"

"Of course, Mistress Korra," said Asami.

"So you have to work together always. You all have to trust each other absolutely because if my slaves can't trust each other, their work will suffer and their service to me will suffer. Unity is essential. And that means..."

"Never breaking a promise to another slave," said Asami. "I understand, Mistress Korra."

"Good. Now, since this slave wronged you, I'm giving her to you to do with as you please," Avatar Korra said, offering Asami Kuvira's leash.

Asami backed away. "Mistress Korra? I... I'm not sure I can... I wouldn't even know what to do with her, Mistress Korra."

"Whatever you like, really." Avatar Korra said. "Punish her, humiliate her, have her pleasure you. Whatever. So long as it can be healed by my waterbenders, you're free to use this slave however you want. This slave needs to understand she isn't any better than you."

"As you say, Mistress Korra," Asami said, gingerly taking the blue leash.

She expected Kuvira to react in some way. Say something. Start to say something. Maybe glance at anything at all. Instead, there was nothing. Kuvira simply stood, silent as a statue.

"Is there anything else I should know or do, Mistress Korra?" Asami asked.

"No, not really," said Avatar Korra. "Obey the gongs, of course. Oh, and, you might think this slave has a name, but she doesn't."

"She doesn't have a name, Mistress Korra?" Asami asked.

"Nope. This one betrayed one of her sister slaves. You can't expect this slave to be allowed to keep her name after something like that, can you?" Avatar Korra said pleasantly.

"I guess not, Mistress Korra," said Asami.

"Good. And as for you, slave, you will refer to Asami as... as... as _Lady Asami_ , alright?"

"Yes, Mistress Korra," Kuv- the slave that had been Kuvira replied meekly.

"You will obey her as you would obey me, because she owns you now, slave."

"Yes, Mistress Korra," the slave said.

"Don't tell me, tell your new owner," Avatar Korra said.

"I will obey your every command, Lady Asami," the slave said. "I belong to you now."

"And... how long will she belong to me, Mistress Korra?" Asami asked.

"Until you decide to give her back to me," Avatar Korra replied.

"And what if... purely hypothetically, but... what if I decide I would like to keep her to myself forever, Mistress Korra?" Asami asked.

Avatar Korra shrugged indifferently. "She broke a promise to a fellow slave," she said.

* * * * *

Walking through the hallways of the Palace of the Avatar was a strange experience. Asami normally kept a fairly brisk pace, but that didn't work now. Not while she held Ku- her new slave on a leash and her ankles were still chained together.

If she did walk at her usual pace, there would be no way for her leashed slave to keep up. She'd stumble and jump and fall and they'd never get anywhere. So Asami didn't. Not much, anyway.

There was one time. She spotted Opal in the middle of a whole group of slaves come down the opposite end of a hallway. Asami sped up. Behind her, her slave's chains jangled as she struggled to keep up.

As she reached Opal, Asami stopped abruptly. Her slave almost walked into her, tripped over her own feet and fell down onto a knee.

"Hello Opal," Asami said.

"Asami, hey!" Opal greeted her with a radiant smile. "And, wait is that...?"

"No," said Asami. "Apparently it isn't."

"Huh," said Opal, giving Asami's kneeling slave a speculative look. "Never thought I'd see the day."

"So what are you up to?" Asami asked. She wasn't sure why she felt it was so important to make small talk with Opal with her slave leashed and shackled on the floor behind her, but she did feel a perverse tingling in her body while she did so.

"Nothing much," said Opal. "Me and the girls are on chandelier duty. The Avatar wants new candles in the banquet hall's chandeliers, so that's what we're doing."

"The Avatar commands and we obey," Asami said.

"And don't you forget it," Opal said jokingly. 

Opal looked at the slave kneeling behind Asami again. She was naked and collared like all the other girls, like Asami, property of the Avatar, and yet there was obvious pity in her eyes for the leashed woman.

"Well, have fun," Opal said, cheerful again. "I've got work to do. So see you around."

"See you later, Opal," Asami said.

Asami watched the small group of slaves hurry away. Then,

"Slave?"

"Yes, Lady Asami?"

"Don't you have your own room somewhere around here?" Asami asked.

"The Avatar granted Kuvira a room, Lady Asami," the slave replied. "This slave owns nothing."

"So do I now own what used to be your room?" Asami asked.

"I... am unsure, Lady Asami," the kneeling slave admitted. "But I do know that the Avatar would not object to your making use of it, Lady Asami."

"Is that really true?" Asami asked, and regretted it immediately.

"I would never lie to you... again... Lady Asami," the slave replied.

* * * * *

Kuv- What had been the sla- _The room_ that Asami now found herself in together with her leashed and shackled slave had obviously not been used much. There was a bed, immaculately made up. There was a desk, free of dust or stains or even a single piece of a paper. There was a chair, similarly without dust, that had not worn a single groove into the floor. And there was a wardrobe, also clean, that probably held a number of blue clothes that had once been owned by a slave who'd had a name.

Asami unhooked her slave's leash.

"You just, keep standing here," Asami ordered.

"As you say, Lady Asami."

Asami put the blue leash down on the bare desk, then sat down on the bed. Her slave, as ordered, stood still near the far wall. Her expression was totally unreadable. Normally, the woman's eyes would've been burning with her fanatical devotion to the Avatar, but even that hint of personality was gone. There was _nothing_ there.

So, Asami asked herself, now what? Avatar Korra had told her that she could do as she pleased, but what would please her? She hadn't become a slave to own slaves. Maybe, if the Avatar had explicitly ordered her to punish K- the slave for her disobedience, she might have known what to do. Or at least improvise creatively. But she was kind of at a loss now.

"Why'd you do it?" Asami asked.

"Lady Asami?" the slave said neutrally.

"You know what I mean," said Asami. "You said you wouldn't use bending and then you did. Why?"

The slave's eyes were fixed firmly on the leash on the desk when she finally replied. "I was... jealous, Lady Asami."

"Keep talking," Asami ordered, when the chained slave fell silent again.

"We... _You_ are the Avatar's property. All of u- you. Some of the Avatar's slaves might wear clothes, some might be entitled to their own soap, or own a Pai Sho set, but there is one thing that unites us all. Unites you all. Our- The collars."

Asami's hand almost instinctively went up to the blue leather down her neck, then moved towards the steel heart the Avatar had given her. Feeling it under her fingertips, she felt... well, she didn't really know what. Right.

"The slave collars are all the same," Asami's slave continued. "No matter the privileges, everyone is an equal slave to the Avatar. Except _you_. _Your_ collar has a heart on it. You've barely settled in and already the Avatar shows you that much favour? Elevates you above everybody else? I've served the Avatar for **years** , I've devoted my whole life, everything that I am to Her. I exist only for Her. And did She grant me something to wear on my collar? What makes you so much better than me?"

"You have your own room," Asami said with an icy calm she didn't feel. "You have clothes. You probably have a whole bunch of stuff I don't even know about. You're the famous the commander of the Avatar's forces. You've fought at her side. And you're jealous of me?"

"Yes!" the slave burst out. "None of that matters. The room, the clothes, that's just stuff. Things. It means nothing. My commandership? That's just a byproduct of my duties to Her. But my slave collar? _That's_ real. That **means** something. My collar shows my devotion to the Avatar and Her love for me. And She loves _you_ more than me! She's given you Her heart!"

The slave stood panting, her naked body glistening with the sweat of her outburst. She looked oddly defiant for a cuffed woman, daring Asami to do anything at all. It wasn't a friendly look, but it was much better than the complete blankness she'd shown before.

"Thank you for telling me," Asami said, forcing her voice to be calm. "But you did forget yourself a few times there."

The slave drew in a deep breath and stood straight. "I did, Lady Asami. Forgive me."

"It's something you obviously feel very passionate about, so I'll forgive that," said Asami. "Other things, I don't think I can forgive so easily."

"I will accept whatever punishment you deem appropriate, Lady Asami," the slave replied, the perfect servant once again.

Asami gave her a thoughtful look, distractedly tapping her knee with a finger. This wasn't about punishment. Not really. Part of it was, sure, but... The Avatar wouldn't have just given her a slave to keep potentially forever. Would she? No. No, she wouldn't. And even if the Avatar would do something like that, she wouldn't give one to her. She was pretty new, after all.

Maybe this was a test. Maybe Avatar Korra wanted to see what she'd do with the power she'd given over this slave.

Or maybe this really was about the slave. About... alright, about _Kuvira_. Everyone knew she'd served the Avatar for years, so presumably the Avatar knew her pretty well by now. So maybe the Avatar had decided that locking Kuvira in the dungeon or putting her in the stocks to be used or whipping her until she bled or whatever the Avatar did to punish wayward slaves would not be enough somehow. Maybe because she thought it wouldn't work. Maybe it was more important to Avatar Korra that Kuvira learned never to break a promise to another slave again.

But if that was the case, the Avatar had dumped a pretty huge responsibility in Asami's lap. So perhaps it wasn't.

Even so... there was one thing Asami felt Kuvira ought to learn and remember.

"Come here, slave," she ordered.

The slave shuffled forward, the short chain between her ankles forcing her to take tiny steps. She waggled awkwardly as she moved, almost helpless. For a moment, Asami imagined herself in those chained leather straps, awkward and naked and helpless before Avatar Korra. The thought flashed through her mind that, probably, the dungeons of the Palace weren't _just_ for punishment.

The slave reached her and stood silently, awaiting further instructions.

"Bend over my lap," Asami commanded.

The slave did so without even a hint of protest. She was surprisingly heavy. Then again, Asami had never before had a grown woman over her lap, so she really shouldn't have expected anything.

As expected, the slave's arms were shackled as well, at the wrist, with blue leather cuffs. Asami moved them out of the way and ran a hand across the slave's soft and smooth behind. She was warm under the palm of her hand and the slave's breathing, while regular, seemed to deepen a bit with anticipation.

"Who am I?" Asami asked sweetly, while her hand caressed the slave's skin.

"Lady Asami," came the reply.

_\- SLAP -_

Asami hand landed sharply on the slave's ass. The chained woman grunted, though Asami couldn't tell if it was in pain or something else. The slap had left a faint red blush on the slave's behind, that was fading quickly.

"Who am I?" Asami asked again.

"Asami."

_\- SLAP -_

The flat of Asami's hand landed harshly on the slave's other cheek. The bent over woman hissed and Asami could swear she was starting to blush with excitement.

"Who am I?" Asami asked.

"Avatar Korra's slave."

Asami raised her hand, then rested it gently on the slave's softly glowing behind. She ran her hands across the outer curves of her ass as she spoke.

"Exactly right. Avatar Korra's slave. Just like you... were. And since you took three tries to get it right, I think I should spank you thirty times so you won't forget. That seems fair, don't you agree?"

"As you say, Lady Asami."

Asami spanked her slave's ass hard. And again. And again. The flat of her hand landed first on one of her slave's ass cheeks, then other, then back to the first again. She slapped her slave's bare skin as hard as she dared, counting under her breath.

A red glow blossomed on the slave's ass and she hissed and grunted as Asami kept spanked her. Her breathing became labored and as her ass became ever redder, her grunted started getting more pained.

Asami became aware one of her legs was getting subtly moist. Without pausing for a moment in her spanking, she found herself smirking just a bit when she realized that while her slave's ass bloomed red with pain, her pussy had begun leaking her arousal onto her. It wasn't the kind of thing she'd expected of Avatar Korra's proud slave commander.

What Asami hadn't really expected either was getting wet herself. But there was just... something... about the chained woman bent over her lap, not just accepting the flat of her hand striking her ass but enjoying it, groaning with painful arousal... Well, it made Asami feel very pleasantly warm inside. And not just because she happily imagined herself bent over Avatar Korra's lap.

She'd need time to think about that. Some day. But not now.

"Thirty," Asami announced, when her hand connected sharply with the slave's ass one last time.

The slave relaxed across Asami's lap, panting heavily. "Thank you, Lady Asami."

Asami frowned. "You know... I know Mistress Korra told you to call me Lady Asami, but then she gave you to me, so... You will call me just Asami, understood?"

"Yes, Asami," the slave replied.

"Alright, get up, then get on the bed," Asami ordered.

The slave did so, waggling awkwardly. Without the use of her arms and hands, she could really only let her chained body fall onto the bed and then wriggle into place as best she could. It was kind of comical, but Asami took care not to smile.

Eventually, the slave came to rest on her back. Or on her arms. Asami drew up next to her, running her fingertips along the woman's helpless body.

"You've explained yourself," she purred into the slave ear, "and you've accepted your punishment. And now I think you should show how sorry you are. _Are_ you sorry?"

"I... singled you out and broke a promise out of pettiness and hurt feelings," the slave said. "It was an inappropriate way to treat one of the Avatar's slaves. For that, I'm sorry, Asami."

"I guess that'll do."

Asami got up and knelt on the bed, one knee one either side of her slave's body. She loomed over the woman's face, her pussy inches away from the slave's lips, her folds gleaming in her eyes.

"Now show me how sorry you are and I'll forgive you," Asami said. "I promise."

Asami had intended to lower herself onto her slave's face, but to her surprise, the slave craned her neck and kissed her pussy deeply. Asami moaned with sudden lust when she felt the woman's lips press against her folds and her tongue drive into her, wriggling against her inner walls.

It was a brief kiss, but an intense one, driven Asami's naked body wild with arousal in an instant. But the slave couldn't keep herself lifted up for very long and fell down onto the bed. Asami immediately lowered herself, grinding her pussy against the slave's mouth.

The slave lay helplessly below her, but didn't seem interested in escaping or getting more comfortable, or anything but kissing Asami's pussy. Her lips brushed hungrily against Asami's sensitive, glistening folds. Once in a while, her tongue slipped out of her mouth, flicking across this bit of aroused flesh or that, or pressing into her core.

Undulating blissfully on her slave's mouth, Asami considered telling her slave exactly where to kiss her and how, but she dismissed the thought almost as soon as she had it. Her slave was doing just fine as it was and ordering her around would only take mental effort that would distract her from the pleasure raging through her slave body.

And what pleasure! True, the slave underneath her didn't have the Avatar's presence, or even Opal's practiced skill, but there was an intensity there that echoed and roared through her. Her slave demanded total devotion from herself in all aspects of her service to the Avatar, and that included sexually. And even though Asami obviously wasn't Avatar Korra, right now, for all intents and purposes, her commands and desires had the strength of the Avatar's and so the slave was totally committed to them. To her.

The slave's tongue slipped out of her mouth and she lapped, puppykitten-like, at Asami's slit. Asami shuddered at the feeling of the slave's lapping tongue and moaned her enjoyment into the empty room. Perhaps encouraged, perhaps simply doing what she'd intended to do, the slave kept licking at her, her tongue flicking across Asami's dripping pussy in quick, short bursts.

"Inside me," Asami groaned. "Kiss me inside."

Asami wasn't sure if the lustful words had been an actual order or an unconscious expression of her animal desires. Not that it mattered to her slave. She pressed her lips against Asami's slit and pushed her tongue deep into her core. Asami squealed with pleasure when she felt her slave's tongue wriggle against her inner walls, writhing and dancing against her moist heat.

Asami moved wildly against her slave's mouth, dancing with wild, erotic joy. Her hands slid all over her naked body at random. At one moment, she was fondling her breasts, the next she ran a hand through her hand, then she might reach down and briefly finger her clit or caress her stomach. It was all one to her. Her body danced on her slave's tongue, every movement guided by the slave's attentions.

Asami's wildly wandering hands reached up to her and her fingers closed around the cold steel of the heart she wore on her blue harem collar.

**Property  
of  
Avatar Korra**

The words blazed to life in Asami's mind. She came instantly, her body shuddering with sudden climactic bliss. She moaned and grunted as the orgasm swept through her ravished body.

Perhaps her slave noticed Asami's orgasmic bliss, perhaps she didn't. Whatever the case, she kept kissing her, her lips pressed against her owner's dripping pussy, her tongue lapping at the inner walls that clenched against her as Asami came. Pleasure poured onto pleasure and Asami's orgasm endured, wild and screaming. She bucked against her slave's face even as her climax made her soar.

Eventually, in spite of all her slave's best efforts, Asami's orgasm passed. She got up from her slave's face, then lay down next to her. She looked at her strangely for a moment or two, then kissed her.

She wasn't really sure why, only that it was important. It wasn't really thanks, though it was that as well. As her mouth met her slave's, as their lips pressed desperately against each other, Asami felt... felt that she had to. To make her slave understand. To make _Kuvira_ understand. She was Avatar Korra's slave. They were both Avatar Korra's slaves. And as the Avatar's things, they should love each other the way the Avatar loved everything.

Asami wasn't sure that made sense. Knew she couldn't translate the power of those feelings into coherent words. But, maybe, she could express it through a kiss.

"Alright," Asami whispered as she pulled back. "That's... alright..."

The slave said nothing. Licked her gleaming lips.

"Well, anyway," Asami tried again. "I think it's about time I got you out of those cuffs, Kuvira, and back to the Avatar."

"I'm... Kuvira again?"

"That's what I said, isn't it?" Asami said, unbuckling the straps around Kuvira's ankles. "But I am going to put you back onto that leash when I bring you back to the Avatar. Hand you back officially, if you know what I mean."

"So you forgive me?" Kuvira asked.

Asami smiled. "I made a promise, didn't I?"

"Yes, but..." Kuvira squirmed. "Please say it."

"I forgive you, Kuvira."

* * * * *

The Palace's banquet hall was not was Asami had been expecting. She'd expected to look much like the throne room. Grand, imposing and celebrating the eternal power of the Avatar. She hadn't expected wooden walls decorated with fishing spears and blue-and-white tapestries. She'd sort of expected the portraits of the Avatar's parents hanging just behind the large chair at the head of the table where the Avatar was seated. Even so, that didn't quite change the vague feeling Asami got that she'd stepped into a Water Tribe longhouse, rather than another room in the Avatar's Palace.

The Avatar wasn't alone in her hall. Plenty of people were sitting all along the table. Asami didn't pay them much attention beyond a glance, and then did. They were all naked and collared. She'd expected Avatar Korra to host foreign dignitaries or something, but no. They were all harem slaves. Doubtlessly, they'd all done something to earn the Avatar's favour or they wouldn't be dining here with her.

Three gargantuan chandeliers hung from the ceiling, bathing the room and their warm light. Asami couldn't see it from where she stood, but she guessed every glittering candle was brand new.

The double doors in the far wall opened and more harem slaves hurried in with the food. Everything looked mouth-wateringly delicious and extravagant. But then, Asami's diet had mostly consisted of rice the past few days.

Asami remembered herself and walked towards the table, Kuvira following dutifully behind. The blue leash Asami held in her hand forced Kuvira to follow, but she had the air of one who would dutifully follow Asami leash or no leash.

As Asami drew near the Avatar's chair, she became aware of a third group of slaves. These ones were lurking under the table. They probably weren't here to eat. Or at least, not to eat food.

"Mistress Korra," Asami said as she reached Avatar Korra's chair.

"Asami," Avatar Korra said with a happy smile. "Did everything work out?"

"Yes, Mistress Korra," Asami replied. "I think it all worked out to my satisfaction. So I'd like to return Kuvira to you."

Avatar Korra leaned back in her chair a bit. "Ease up, will you? This is important," she said to someone under the table. "Sorry about that," she added, returning her attention to Asami. "So, that slave is Kuvira again?"

"Yes, Mistress Korra. And because she's Kuvira, she belongs to you, Mistress Korra."

"Kuvira, anything you'd like to add?" Avatar Korra asked.

"I acted disgracefully and Asami was far too lenient on me," Kuvira said. "However, I think the important issues between us have been resolved, Avatar Korra."

"That'll do," said Avatar Korra and took the blue leash from Asami's hand. "Kuvira, you're mine."

"Yes, Mistress Korra," Kuvira breathed.

"Asami, you're mine as well," Avatar Korra added with a wink.

"Of course, Mistress Korra."

"Now get out of here, both of you," Avatar Korra commanded. "I'm having dinner and I didn't invite either of you, so get lost."

Kuvira and Asami bowed. "As you command, Mistress Korra."

* * * * *

Zhu Li liked what had been Asami's office at Future Industries. It was functional. Some CEOs had grand offices designed to impress people, as though they were important. All they ended being were gaudy and useless. But Asami's former office had been a place for her to work and Zhu Li appreciated that.

She appreciated it much more than her hotel room. She'd never say so out loud, but sometimes she did think the Avatar made... unwise decisions when it came to renting her hotel rooms whenever she sent her away on some errand. They were always big and luxurious and expensive. Probably this was Avatar Korra's way of apologizing to Zhu Li for sending her away from the Palace so often, but she really wish the Avatar would stop.

Zhu Li wasn't cut out for grand and luxurious. She was a harem slave. She lived her life constantly surrounded by people who were also harem slaves. She wasn't a person, she was a single part of a glorious whole dedicated to the Avatar. Those big hotel rooms... all that space did to Zhu Li was impress on her how alone she was. How incomplete without the rest of the harem around her.

Next time the Avatar sent her away, she'd request some company. Nothing too fancy. Six or seven slaves. Enough to remind her of the Palace and her place in it.

There was a polite knock on the door.

"Enter," Zhu Li said, and wondered briefly how long she'd have to wait before the person on the other side had worked up the nerve to actually enter.

Not very long. The knocker had turned out to be Jin, one of Asami's former employees and now, technically, an employee of the Avatar. Zhu Li quite liked him. He wasn't as intimidated by her blue collar as most people were.

One look at his face told Zhu Li he was the bearer of some bad news.

"There's been a message for Miss... uhm... Miss Sato," Jin said awkwardly.

"From the look on your face, I'd guess this message wasn't sent by someone who doesn't know 'Miss Sato' doesn't exist any more," said Zhu Li.

"I think it's best you just read it," Jin said, handing Zhu Li the message.

Zhu Li read it. A smile tugged at her lips.

Well, look at it this way, she told herself. Now she had the perfect excuse to contact the Avatar and ask for some company.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to struggle with a whole lot of anxiety before I could even start writing this, but it's here now. I hope you enjoy.

President Raiko pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Look," he began, "at least _try_ to see things from my perspective. Future Industries was one of Republic City's crown jewels and the Avatar simply snatched it away from us."

"Avatar Korra didn't 'snatch' anything," Zhu Li objected in her usual flat monotone. "The company was transferred to her when she came into possession of its owner, that's all."

Asami didn't know why she needed to be here, in Republic City, in Raiko's office. She did know the reason, but it was a bad reason. Raiko wanted to talk to her about Future Industries, as though she still had anything at all to do with the company. And because of what Raiko wanted, Asami had been sent away from the Avatar's Palace, from the Avatar's presence, to attend this utterly pointless meeting.

She sat with her legs crossed and her arms folded in front of her chest. She knew she was acting like a petulant teenager and didn't much care.

"I'm in no mood for semantics," President Raiko said. "Miss Sato-"

"Asami," Zhu Li corrected him.

" _Miss Sato_ handed herself over to the Avatar. Fine. That's her right. But for the Avatar to then also get her hands on all her property is ludicrous. Not just the company, but the mansion, the warehouses, the land. Suddenly, large parts of Republic City belong to a foreign national. This cannot be allowed to stand."

"It is impossible for the Avatar to be a foreigner anywhere," Zhu Li said calmly. "She is the spiritual leader of all the world and all the world owes allegiance to her. That includes Republic City."

"Yes, I was afraid you might say such a thing," said Raiko. "But the fact of the matter is, the world has moved on. The tyranny of the Avatars is long over. Avatar Korra cannot simply do as she pleases."

"And so she hasn't," Zhu Li said. "Her actions have been perfect legal, following centuries of precedent."

Asami was professional enough not to roll her eyes. Arguments like this were fine enough when it was just students shooting the breeze over a cup of tea or something, but it was embarrassing for a supposed leader like Raiko to start bickering like this.

"I can see this is going nowhere," Raiko said. "But I would hope the Avatar would at least be open to compromise."

"You have a suggestion?" Zhu Li.

"If the Avatar is to own property in Republic City, then she should at least pay her fair shares of taxes to the City, same as anyone else."

"Same as anyone else?" Zhu Li said ironically. "Well, let me see."

Zhu Li reached down in her blue briefcase and pulled out a stack of papers.

"Ah, yes. Cabbage Corp's main production and distribution facilities are in Republic City, yet its corporate headquarters is a very small igloo in the Southern Water Tribe, where tax rates are considerably lower. Then there's Varrick Global Industries, which has divisions and headquarters all over the place, cunningly designed to play various different tax codes against each other and avoid having to pay taxes anywhere."

"We're not talking about them," Raiko said. "We're talking about the Avatar."

"The Avatar doesn't pay taxes because, despite your protestations, she is the supreme authority and her wealth flows back into the world. Even now, most of the money for Republic City's reconstruction comes from the Avatar. And yet _you_ would demand the Avatar pay her 'fair share' when you allow every other corporation to avoid their obligations so their upper echelons can shamelessly enrich themselves? I wonder how that would play in the media."

 _And_ she was wearing clothes. It was suprising how annoyed Asami was at being dressed, but she was. She'd been wearing clothes for most of her life, after all, and had had perpetual nudity enforced on her only relatively recently. But her clothes did annoy her. They didn't belong to her. They'd been handed to her specifically for this trip to Republic City and they would be taken away from her again the moment she returned to the Palace. As a result, her blue suit was of a simple one-size-fits-all design.

But even if they had been perfectly tailored to suit her, Asami suspected she would hate her clothes. She hated not feeling the air against her body. She hated the way the fabric grated against her skin. She hated how the garments choked and restricted her.

She remembered how, on the last day of that other Asami's life, she had been hesitant to strip naked knowing that any amount of strangers would see her exposed body. It seemed silly now. Now she'd happily tear her clothes off no matter where she was or who was around.

A slave needed only her collar and nothing else.

Well, and also enough clothes to make sure they didn't die of exposure, but there was no chance of that happening here.

President Raiko pointedly turned away from Zhu Li and towards Asami.

"Miss Sato," he said.

"Asami," Zhu Li corrected him.

"I'm not talking to you," Raiko snapped. "I'm adressing Miss Sato."

"No such person exists," said Zhu Li. "Not in this room. This slave's only name is Asami."

"Fine, then. Asami."

Asami turned to glare at Raiko. Said nothing.

"Look, I'm sure you thought you were performing some noble sacrifice when you signed yourself over to the Avatar," Raiko said, as kindly as he could manage. "Perhaps you even thought you would be erasing your father's... mistakes. But you must have realized by now that your enslavement has been unwise."

"Must I?" said Asami.

"You're a gifted engineer and a brilliant inventor," said Raiko. "I can't imagine the Avatar knows how to make use of your talents. Frankly, you're wasted over there."

"Am I?" said Asami.

"If you just leave the Avatar's service and return to Republic City, well, just imagine how much you might accomplish that you never could at the Palace. Imagine all the good you might do."

"It's not going to work, you know," said Asami. "Even if I were to leave the Avatar, Future Industries would still belong to her. Unless she were to decide to hand the company back to me. Which she might. But if she did offer it to me, I would refuse it anyway. Future Industries belongs to the Avatar. It doesn't belong to me. And it _certainly_ doesn't belong to you."

"Yes, well, even so, a rare talent like yours..." Raiko tried.

"We're done here," Asami said. "I have nothing more to say to you."

"Well, there you have it," said Zhu Li. "Any last comments you would like to make?"

Raiko sank back into his chair. "They would only fall onto deaf ears. You can go, the both of you. And be sure to inform the Avatar of what was said here. She can't keep going on the way she has."

"I'll make sure she hears all about it," Zhu Li said.

* * * * *

Asami had a strange double feeling about the hotel room she shared with Zhu Li.

One the one hand it was, well, just a hotel room. An expensive hotel room, to be sure, the kind she'd spend the night in on business trips, but nothing really extraordinary.

On the other hand, it was a vast cavern, an endless empty abyss. There was a lot of room, a lot of space, and all of it empty. Part of Asami felt very strongly that all that empty space should be taken up by harem slaves doing whatever it was they were supposed to be doing. There was a kind of living room, which could easily house eight slaves, maybe ten. The dining area had room enough for six, maybe more if they got a bigger table. The bathroom had space enough for three, or more probably five if they shared the bath and the shower. And the astonishing _two_ bedrooms easily had room enough for twelve slaves.

And all of this for just two people. For just Zhu Li. It was all wrong. Despite all the expensive furniture and gaudy decorations, it was cold and empty and lonely and Asami almost couldn't stand it.

"Wretched, isn't it?" Zhu Li said as she calmly unbuttoned her blue blouse.

Asami nodded as she shrugged off her blue jacket. "It's terrible," she agreed.

"You get used to it," Zhu Li sighed as she took off her blue shoes.

"Really?" Asami asked as she pulled down her blue pants.

"No," said Zhu Li, unhooking her blue bra. "It just stops hurting quite so much."

"I'm sorry," Asami said as she slid her blue panties down her legs.

"You have nothing to be sorry for," said Zhu Li, likewise taking off her blue panties. "The Avatar needs me here, so I'm here. My own feelings don't matter."

Asami breathed a sigh of relief when she tossed the last of her hated clothes aside and stood collared and naked like she was supposed to.

"Your feelings do matter," she said.

"Not as much as my duties to the Avatar," Zhu Li replied, neatly folding her clothes and stacking them on a chair.

"You're right," said Asami. "Otherwise I wouldn't be here."

"And you're the lucky one," Zhu Li said, her bland voice cracking. "You get to go back to the Palace tomorrow."

Asami fell silent as the sheer scope of that horror dawned on her. She was in Republic City only because of that meeting with Raiko. The meeting had happened, so she had to go. But Zhu Li was here because she'd been chosen to sort out Future Industries' administration.

Soon, Asami would be surrounded by the harem again and in the presence of the Avatar. And Zhu Li would remain behind, all alone, without so much as a single sister slave to keep her company.

Asami embraced Zhu Li and pulled her close against herself. It was the only thing she could think of doing. Nothing she could say would be enough, but perhaps Zhu Li could take some comfort in her touch, in the feel of her body.

Zhu Li's sapphire-studded nipple rings felt cold against Asami's skin, but soon the joined heat of their naked bodies warmed them until she barely felt them any more.

"Thank you," Zhu Li whispered.

"I'm here for you," Asami replied.

"Until tomorrow," said Zhu Li, with less bitterness than she was allowed.

"And until tomorrow, I'll do whatever you want," Asami said.

"Careful what you say," Zhu Li said. "Some of my interests might surprise you."

" _Whatever you want,_ " Asami insisted.

Zhu Li pulled away, just a little, and took Asami's hand. Asami found her gaze drawn toward Zhu Li's smallish breasts and especially the gleaming rings piercing her nipples. They didn't fit her at all. Someone as withdrawn and unemotional and mousy as Zhu Li surely wouldn't have any interest in that kind of body jewelry. The Avatar must given them to her, but why? As a joke? Punishment?

Asami had questions and she wasn't going to ask any of them. Instead, she simply let Zhu Li lead her to one of the bedrooms. Zhu Li lay down on the sheets and Asami had no choice but to lie next to her. After waiting for a moment to see if the other woman was going to do anything at all, Asami pulled Zhu Li against her, wrapping her arms and legs around the woman in a full embrace of her body.

Asami said or did nothing, but simply held Zhu Li, heard and felt her breathe. If Zhu Li wanted to talk, she would speak. If Zhu Li wanted to have sex she would initiate it somehow. If Zhu Li simply wanted to be held, Asami would hold her. It wasn't enough. A pale imitation of the intimacy of the harem at best, a mockery of it at worst, but it was all Asami could offer her, so she offered it.

Without thinking about it, Asami kissed Zhu Li's forehead. Zhu Li raised her head to look at her and kissed her on the lips. It was long, lingering kiss. Slow and quiet and calm. No real passion, no real love either. Asami barely knew Zhu Li. She didn't know what she was like beyond the surface, not really. She had no idea what made the woman tick.

They were both slaves of Avatar Korra. That was the only real connection they had. And that was enough.

Time passed unnoticed. Unheeded seconds drifted away. Asami held Zhu Li, sometimes an arm or a leg for comfort. Sometimes they kissed, often they didn't. They looked one another in the eyes, or sometimes didn't. They were _together_ in an empty room, in an empty world, far from the Palace.

The sun was low and red in the sky when Zhu Li finally spoke up.

"You have a heart on your collar."

"It was a gift from the Avatar," Asami replied.

"I know," said Zhu Li. "That must have ruffled some feathers."

"A few," Asami admitted. "But they were smoothed over."

"Sure," Zhu Li said. "And I think I know who those feathers belonged to."

"It doesn't matter any more," said Asami.

"Did you know that in all the history of the world, only two Avatars ever actually married someone?" Zhu Li said.

"Of course I do," said Asami. "Who doesn't?"

"You think that number might ever go up to three?"

"Probably. Some time. But I can't see- Wait, you're not suggesting _I_ -?"

"You have a heart on your collar," said Zhu Li.

"That says **Property of Avatar Korra**. That's all I am and all I want to be," said Asami.

"Of course," said Zhu Li.

Asami and Zhu Li fell silent again. The daylight faded unti the two slaves lay in darkness. This time, it was Asami who spoke up again.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead," Zhu Li said.

"Those, uh, nipple rings. How did...?"

"They were a gift from the Avatar, of course," said Zhu Li.

"Oh," said Asami. "You must have been... very surprised."

"I was a bit surprised," Zhu Li admitted. "I hadn't expected the Avatar to actually grant my request."

"You _wanted_ to have your nipples pierced?" Asami said.

"Oh, yes," Zhu Li said. "I like the way they look and I love the way they feel when our Mistress plays with them."

"Oh," said Asami.

"I did tell you I had some surprising interests," said Zhu Li.

"Yes, you did say that."

"Anyway, it's got dark. We should probably... get something to eat," Zhu Li said reluctantly.

"We can also just stay here if you want to," said Asami.

Zhu Li squirmed in her embrace. "I want to," she admitted. "But we have to stay healthy for the Avatar and that means not skipping any meals."

"You're right," said Asami. "Shall we get room service?"

"This hotel has got a very nice little restaurant. I suggest we go eat there."

"Should we get dressed before we go?" Asami asked.

"Of course not," Zhu Li replied.

Asami smiled in the gloom. "Sounds lovely."


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning: This part of my lesbian sex slave harem fic gets sort of kinky. So be aware of that.

Asami breathed a sigh of relief when she heard the massive walls of the Palace grind shut behind her. The drive back from Republic City had taken too long, but now she was home again.

She was still naked. After that meeting with Raiko she hadn't put her loaned clothes back on again. She hadn't seen a need to. In fact, she'd have happily left them back in Republic City. But, like Asami, the clothes were property of the Avatar so she couldn't just neglect them. Besides, it wouldn't have been fair to Zhu Li, leaving behind clothes when there was nobody else to wear them.

Asami parked the car in the garage, gathered up the little bundle in the passenger seat, and left for one of the storerooms. Or at least, that had been her intention. But the moment she walked out of the garage, Opal stopped leaning against the wall near the exit and fell into step besides her.

"Welcome back," Opal said cheerfully. "How was Republic City?"

"Miserable," said Asami. "And also still mostly in ruins."

"Figured as much. You headed for the storeroom?"

Asami gestured to the bundle of blue clothes under her arm with the hand that held a pair of blue shoes. "I do have to turn these back in."

"Right. Sure," said Opal.

"Why? Is there somewhere else I need to be going?" Asami asked. She hoped she didn't sound too eager to hear Opal answer 'straight to Avatar Korra'.

"No, no, that's fine," Opal replied. "So how did your meeting with Raiko go?"

Asami groaned. "Don't remind me. He wanted to take Future Industries away from the Avatar. And he suggested I should stop being a slave!" she added indignantly.

"Wow, rude," said Opal. "But I wouldn't take it personally if I were you. He's probably just feeling threatened by our Mistress. She's the one who put him in power, so he's probably terrified she's gonna take it away from him again. Probably he's just trying to weaken her influence in case she does decide to remove him."

"But the Avatar didn't put him in power," said Asami. "People voted for him. Well, about a quarter of the people who voted."

"Sure," said Opal. "But only because our Mistress instituted those... oh, what do you call them? Elections? If she hadn't, Raiko wouldn't be President. And if the Avatar decides a popularity contest isn't a good way of getting a ruler, what will he do then? Cling to power anyway? Can he be sure people will back him up?"

"They won't," said Asami. "Not if it came to that. The reason he got to be President with barely a quarter of the votes is because most votes went to the Avatar."

Opal stopped dead in her tracks and frowned. "That... but Avatar Korra wasn't trying to become President of Republic City. That was part of the point."

"People wrote her name on their ballots anyway."

"Huh. Well. No wonder Raiko's feeling threatened. Ah, here we are."

It wasn't the same storehouse as where Asami had first picked up her clothes, but fortunately that didn't matter. She handed the hated bundle over to a slave with a large tattoo of Raava coiled around her right arm. Hopefully that was the last she'd ever see of... well, not clothes in general, obviously. But clothes she was supposed to wear.

Although... perhaps she wouldn't object to wearing clothes for the Avatar. In case she wanted her to perform a striptease for her or something. Maybe wearing clothes would sort of be alright then.

"OK then," said Opal, her voice losing its usual casual breeziness. "I'm supposed to take you somewhere now. Avatar's orders."

"Lead the way."

Opal did so, marching forward in a grim silence more suitable to Kuvira than to herself. Asami's ever attempt at small talk - a comment about the weather here, a remark about some flowers there - was met only with silence. Even when other slaves greeted her, Opal didn't reciprocate or do anything to acknowledge she'd even heard or seen them.

Asami felt her heart start beating louder in her chest. Something was up. Something very serious. Although she couldn't imagine what it was.

Opal guided Asami straight to the central Palace. The familiar surroundings didn't do much to ease Asami's nerves, especially since they weren't familiar for long. Opal turned into some unfamiliar hallways and Asami had no choice but to follow.

The two of them soon reached some stairs that lead down into the ground and now Asami knew where they were going.

The dungeons.

No wonder Opal was so grim. No wonder she wouldn't say anything. But why? Why would the Avatar order Opal to take her down there? Had she done something wrong? Was she being punished?

The dungeons... or at least, _these_ dungeons were scrupulously clean. The stone floor of the corridor was smooth, the metal bars of the padded cells gleamed. Opal and Asami walked past empty cell after empty cell. There were so many cells here, Asami wondered if they'd ever all been full. And if they ever had been, why?

"This one," Opal declared, stopping in front of another empty cell.

Asami stepped inside. It was the same as every other cell as far as she could see. Padded walls, no window. A bunk, a toilet, and four shackles embedded in the far wall.

"Against the wall," Opal ordered.

Asami stood with her back against the wall. She spread her arms and legs so Opal could cuff them easily. Opal did so quickly and efficiently, closing the blue leather straps around Asami's wrists and ankles. After she'd chained Asami to the wall, she carefully inspected the leather cuffs again with an air of professionalism and nodded, apparently satisfied.

"One last thing," Opal said.

"Yes?" Asami asked.

"You're not allowed to speak. Understand?"

Asami nodded.

"Good."

With that, Opal turned and left, leaving Asami all alone in the cell.

Asami experimentally moved her arms and legs. She couldn't move them much. The chains were much too short for her to do anything but twist a little. She would stand here against this soundproof wall until someone came along to release her. And she had no idea when that would be.

Asami heard herself breathe deeply. It was the only sound here apart from the faint buzzing of the artificial lights. A curious mixed of emotions played through her naked body. She was frightened and the she was excited and she was worried and she was calm.

The cell door was open, but shackled as she was, it might as well have been on the other side of the moon. Asami didn't know if the open door made things better or worse. Was it taunting her? Or was it a reminder that she was in the Avatar's dungeon and as trapped as she was down here, she would leave again? Or maybe it was just an open door and not a symbol of anything.

Asami leaned her head back against the wall. She could feel the heat rising in her core. She was utterly helpless and her body was on full display. _Anyone_ could just walk into this cell and use her as they pleased. Any one of the scores of slaves the Avatar owned might saunter through that open door and have their way with her.

Asami swallowed hard and panted. Between her spread legs she was soaking wet.

Or perhaps Mistress Korra would walk into this cell and use her slave body to satisfy herself. After all, the Avatar wanted her here. She knew where she was. She could come here whenever she liked **knowing** Asami would be here for her. To serve her. To be used by her however she pleased.

Please.

Oh, please.

But there was another thought. One that cut through Asami's arousal like a rusty knife. It was as intrusive and poisonous as an unwanted guest Asami just could not get to leave.

_What if Opal had lied?_

What if Avatar Korra hadn't ordered Opal to do anything? What if Opal had only told Asami she had to be quiet so she wouldn't scream for help. What if Avatar Korra had no idea at all that she was down here? What if Opal had just abandoned her in this cell here to waste away and die?

It was completely ridiculous thought and Asami knew it. Opal would never do something as heinous as that. And even if she did, she wouldn't get away with it. Far too many slaves had seen them both walking towards the dungeons. And even if all of them, including the storehouse slave and the non-slave gate guards, were somehow in on some bizarre conspiracy to lock Asami in the dungeons, _someone_ would notice she hadn't come back when she should have.

The whole idea was nonsense, but it had wrapped itself around her brain anyway, slowly dripping its venom into her mind.

Time passed. Asami had no way of telling how much. The light was constant, unchanging. There was only her uneven breath and the rapid beating of her heart. She writhed in her shackles, waiting. She didn't know what she was waiting for. She hoped for the Avatar. She belonged to the Avatar. She was back in the Avatar's Palace, she should be with her Mistress.

_Avatar Korra didn't know she was down here._

Shut up! Shut up! It wasn't true! She was Avatar Korra's slave and Avatar Korra cared for her slaves. She was the Avatar. Her love was eternal and all-encompassing. Every single life, no matter how wretched or insignificant, was under her care. She was the Avatar and she would come for her.

It was five minutes later. Or perhaps it was five hours later. Both were equally likely to Asami. Probably it hadn't been five days, though. She would have noticed that at least. It didn't matter anyway. Five minutes, five hours, it was all the same. It wasn't important. Only one thing mattered. Only one thing could ever matter.

Avatar Korra had walked through the open door and into Asami's cell.

Avatar Korra stood silently in the middle of the cell. She wore rough Water Tribe clothes and had a bag slung over her shoulder, which she immediately dropped to the floor. 

The sight of her Mistress burned all doubts and fears from Asami's mind in an instant, leaving yearning and lust. Asami struggled futilely against her restraints. She was upright. She was in the presence of the Avatar again after being away from the Palace and she was upright! She should be down on her knees, her forehead pressed against the ground. How could she properly show her submission now that she was chained to a wall?

Avatar Korra slowly approached Asami's bound body. A strained, animal noise of barely suppressed desire escaped from Asami's throat. She wasn't talking, she was forbidden from talking, but she still said a lot.

Avatar Korra stopped closely to Asami that if she just strained against her leather shackles as hard as she could, if she thrust herself forward as much as she could, she would just barely fail to touch her Mistress. And yet, even though the Avatar wasn't actually touching her, Asami could feel her heat on her skin and in her slave body.

Avatar Korra looked her up and down, not a single emotion present on her face. Asami shuddered with lust under the Avatar's attention. It was almost funny. People had stared at her naked body in Republic City as well. Some of them had felt embarrassed, some indifferent, others had been openly turned on, and none of them had mattered to her. Asami had felt **nothing**. People could look or not look at her collared nakedness and she didn't care.

But now it was Avatar Korra looking at her and Asami found herself writhing in her restraints. She didn't know if she wanted to show every bit of her skin to her Mistress or if she was still straining to touch her. But her body was the Avatar's body and Asami had to present herself to her.

Avatar Korra reached out and grabbed one of Asami's pale breasts. Asami mewed with delight, and felt her legs going weak. The Avatar's hand moved across her chest, gliding across her soft skin. At times, she squeezed Asami's breasts experimentally, or flicked thumb across one of her dark nipples. It hardly mattered what she did. Asami sighed and moaned, pleasure building in her core and spreading through her slave self.

An expression flashed across Avatar Korra's face. It had hardly been a second, but it had been there. A brief smile. Asami whimpered pitifully, excitement dripping from her pussy. She wanted to speak, even if she didn't know what to say. She wanted the Avatar to smile again. She wanted her body to be what made the Avatar smile.

Avatar Korra kissed one of Asami's breasts. Long, slow, sensual. Her mouth pressed against her soft skin, her tongue darting across a nipple. Asami moaned and the chains at her wrists jangled as her body struggled with her pleasure. Avatar Korra slowly closed her mouth, dragging her lips across Asami's breasts until she was sucking on her hard nipple. Asami panted, lost, aware of only one single part of her body where the Avatar's mouth met her skin.

The Avatar withdrew, leaving one of Asami's breasts glimmering with her saliva. That wetness somehow burned on her skin, as though the Avatar had marked her there. A brief mark, one that would evaporate far too soon, but a mark all the same.

Avatar Korra put a hand on Asami's helpless body. Dragged two fingers down her skin, leaving a line of heat that burned within the slave. There was really, hopefully, only one place where the Avatar's wandering hand could end up and Asami found herself thrusting her hips forward in anticipation.

Asami moaned loud enough that it was almost possible to believe the noise could escape the padded walls of the dungeon when Avatar Korra's hand slipped between her forcibly spread legs. The Avatar caressed her slave's slit fondly, her fingers move back and forth across Asami's glistening folds. Asami pulled the chains around her wrists taut as her bound body tensed up with pleasure.

Avatar Korra touched her lightly, her hand gliding back and forth across her sensitive skin. And yet there was an inferno raging in her core that spread through the rest of her like wildfire. She moaned freely, her body gyrating lewdly against Avatar Korra's hand, a caged animal hungry for more. If Avatar Korra ordered her to be completely quiet... well, Asami would try, of course. And she would fail. Her body was too full of pleasure and she was not a good enough slave yet to suppress every sign of her overwhelming joy.

But Avatar Korra did not order anything. If anything, she seemed pleased. Every pleasured grunt or lustful shudder seemed to make her smile. Asami couldn't understand why, though with Avatar Korra's hand caressing her pussy so beautifully it was pretty hard to understand anything. Even so... Yes, her body was Avatar Korra's body. And so her pleasure was Avatar Korra's pleasure. But still, it was the slave Asami who felt it and not Mistress Korra, so why would it please Mistress Korra?

Asami threw her head back and groaned freely when she felt two of the Avatar's fingers slip inside of her. Her fingertips moved along her burning inner walls, forcing Asami's helpless slave body to tremble with lust. She gasped and panted, her chest heaving with her labored breaths as Avatar Korra's fingers moved up and down inside her pussy. If she had been free- No, she would never be free again. But if she hadn't been shackled to the wall, Asami would have... she didn't know what she would have done. Writhe against the Avatar's hand even more than she already was. Bounce up and down on her fingers. Do all of the work, if the Avatar demanded it.

Avatar Korra withdrew. Her fingers slid out of Asami's dripping pussy as fast and abruptly as they'd penetrated her. Asami went completely limp, hanging in her leather cuffs. She would have fallen to knees if the chains hadn't held her up. Not just because she ought to kneel before the Avatar, but because she didn't have the strength to remain standing. The pleasure the Avatar had granted her had consumed her energy and still raged in her body.

Avatar Korra raised her hand. Her fingers glistened in the artificial light of the dungeon. They were wet with the excitement they'd stirred in Asami's slave body. Avatar Korra pressed her gleaming index and middle fingers against Asami's mouth and smeared her own arousal across her lips.

Asami opened her mouth and let her tongue slip out. She lapped at Avatar Korra's fingers, drinking up her lustful juices. She didn't know if she was supposed to. Avatar Korra hadn't ordered her to. But Avatar Korra wasn't forbidding her from doing it either. So it must be permissible.

Asami could still feel the excitement pulsing in her core, could feel her slave body's animal need more pleasure. But they were distant feelings. Unimportant. They'd come back and they'd come back hard. She could feel the fire burning just beneath her skin. But for now, there was only the Avatar's messy hand and the Avatar's glistening fingers and her need, her duty, to lick them clean.

A vague smile played on Avatar Korra's lips while Asami dragged her tongue across her fingers over and over again. Asami tried not to stare at that smile, at her Mistress' pleased expression. Tried to stay focused on her gleaming fingers. Tried to focus on the taste of her strong skin mixed with her own wet lust.

Then the Avatar was gone, her hand pulled away from Asami's lips, her back turned to her as she walked to the bag she'd dropped to the ground. Asami was left gaping, blankly mouthing at the air, suddenly cold. She shuffled forward, pulled at her wrist restraints with all the strength she could muster, which wasn't much. It was all futile. She was secured to wall and there was nothing she could do to stop Avatar Korra walking away from her.

She wasn't sure if what happened next made her situation more terrible or less. But, standing away from her, with her back turned towards her, Avatar Korra started to undress. She stripped out of her clothes hurriedly, carelessly tossing them in the vague direction of the cell's bunk and only hitting it twice. Asami whimpered feebly with arousal as the Avatar revealed her naked body to her. Even if it was only her back. Even if it was only her prominent shoulder blades and strong legs. And smooth, firm ass.

Avatar Korra knelt next to her bag, rummaged around in it for a bit, then stood up again. She still had her back turned towards Asami so she could quite see what was going on, but she soon figured out the gist of it when she saw the Avatar strapping belts of blue leather around her waist and legs.

Even so, Asami still gasped with lust when Avatar Korra turned towards her again, revealing both her naked body and the blue leather harness between her legs holding a large blue dildo securely in place. Asami didn't know where to look. The Avatar's beautiful musculature, gorgeous skin, and firm breasts and dark nipples? Or the large, blue, fake cock with which she was surely about to fuck her? Asami couldn't decide. Everything. All of it. But the Avatar was too much for a slave to take in all at once.

Avatar Korra walked back to Asami's chained, defenseless body, her fake cock swaying as she did so. Asami felt her mouth going dry even as she felt her pussy getting wetter - if that was still possible. If her ankles hadn't been shackled to the wall, she would have spread her legs even further apart in a wordless invitation to her.

Avatar Korra pressed her body against Asami's and her heat reignited the fire within her. Asami gasped with pleasure, almost dizzy with arousal. Avatar Korra must have took hold of her fake cock because she felt the tip of that blue shaft slide back and forth against her yearning entrance.

Asami yelped with surprise when Avatar Korra suddenly sank the full length of the dildo into her slave body with a single harsh thrust. One moment, Asami had felt the toy play teasingly with her slit, the next moment its full, thick length filled her pussy. But she was so turned on, so wet, so completely ready, that Avatar Korra's fake cock slid into her bound body easily.

Avatar Korra grunted as she thrust forward, her hips slamming against Asami's collared body again and again as she fucked her hard. But that noise was nothing compared to the moans spilling constantly from Asami's lips. Feeling her Mistress so deep inside of her, filling her so utterly, was almost unbearable. Every thrust of the Avatar's hips sent another wave of pleasure crashing through her defenseless body. Asami had no idea how long she could possibly endure. She hoped it would be forever. Chained to this wall, locked in this dungeon where time didn't exist, Asami wanted only her Mistress' hard body pressed against her skin and her blue cock fucking her without end.

Asami wanted to wrap her arms and legs around the Avatar's powerful body, but she couldn't. She wanted to fuck her Mistress even as her Mistress fucked her, but she couldn't do that either. The Avatar was too powerful, her thrusting too hard for her shackled to do anything other than experience that blue shaft moving deep inside of her pussy over and over again and feel the pleasure burning in her body.

Once, Asami pleasured moans choked in the back of her throat when she felt her Mistress turn her head enough to kiss her neck. The gentle feeling of her soft lips against her skin tore through everything, completely overpowering everything else, including the Avatar's constant, relentless fucking. For a brief moment that slight pressure of Avatar Korra's sent spinning into a delirium grander than even lust.

But, beautiful at was, it was only a moment. Avatar Korra's lips were gone, but her toy remained, lunging into and out of the pleasured inferno of her core. Asami's whole body shook, trembling violently whenever the Avatar's hips slammed against her. Her hands clenched and unclenched at random. She screamed and mewed and moaned while her Mistress drove her collared slave body on and on towards whatever goal her Mistress desired.

And then...

Then something happened. Something more beautiful than that brief kiss, more powerful than her hard fucking.

Avatar Korra whispered in her ear.

"Come, slave."

Asami came. Instantly. There was no controlling it. No stopping it. Her orgasm ravished her, tearing through her helpless body. She gasped and panted and shuddered weakly while the climactic bliss burned up whatever remained of her. 

Perhaps the Avatar was still fucking her. Perhaps she had stopped. Asami thought she could still feel her Mistress' strap-on inside of her pussy, but she couldn't be sure. There was nothing but the pure agony of her orgasm and whispered words of the Avatar who'd commanded it.

Asami started sobbing and didn't know why. Even though she still shuddered with her climax, tears filled her eyes and streamed down her cheeks. She leaned heavily against her owner's body and moaned and sobbed and sucked in deep breaths of air and trembled with the last remnants of her orgasm.

Asami lay on the ground, her head in Avatar Korra's lap. Time must have passed because... well, because she was lying down and not chained up against the wall. Had she passed out? No, perhaps. There were... hints in her memory. Avatar Korra carefully steadying her as she undid the straps around her wrists and ankles. Gently, very gently lowering her to the floor. But they were not really her memories. In her mind, those things had not happened to her. She had just witnessed them happening to her body while she stood some way away.

But now she was on the floor, her head in Avatar Korra's lap, Avatar Korra's hand gently stroking the mess that was her hair. Avatar Korra must have taken off her strap-on at some point as well because Asami couldn't feel it anywhere any more. But she had no memory of her Mistress actually taking it off.

Asami looked up into her owner's clear blue eyes and gentle smile. She opened her mouth to... she didn't know what. Closed it again. She settled into her Mistress' lap, content to just feel her stroke her hair.

"You're allowed to speak again," Avatar Korra said.

Asami nodded. She'd heard the words. Understood them, even. They just didn't seem important or even particularly relevant.

"Asami," Avatar Korra said gently. "Talk to me."

It took some time. Asami felt as though she had to drag the words up from some deep pit inside of her she'd rather leave undisturbed.

"Thank you, Mistress Korra," she said at last.

"OK, good start," Avatar Korra said. "And what are you thanking me for?"

Asami stared mutely up at her owner. Her collared body was overflowing with feelings. She was overwhelmed with gratitude and affection and the lingering effects of her orgasm and love. And she didn't know how to put any of it into words. There were no words.

"Accepting this slave," Asami said. "Owning this slave."

"Hmm," said Avatar Korra. "And how was Republic City?"

Asami frowned. Republic City? There was this dungeon and this cell and Mistress Korra and perhaps even Asami. Republic City... that was... other... elsewhere... not part of her... Not...

Wait.

"Zhu Li," Asami said.

Avatar Korra blinked. "What about Zhu Li?"

Asami struggled with the words, but she had to say it. This was _important_. She'd be betraying her slave sister if she didn't at least try.

"Zhu Li belongs to you," Asami tried. "She's a harem girl, like this slave, like all your slaves. She... should be in the harem. But she's only... she's alone. Not in the harem."

"She's never said anything like that to me!" Avatar Korra said.

"We obey your will," said Asami. "Zhu Li obeys you, Mistress Korra."

"Yes, but she could have at least... I dunno... told me how she felt or something."

Avatar Korra closed her eyes. Took a few very deep, very deliberate breaths. Opened her eyes again and looked down at Asami.

"Thank you for telling me this," said Avatar Korra. "I'll have some more questions later, but... don't worry. I'll take care of it."

Asami sighed happily. "You take care of us, Mistress Korra."

There was a brief half-chuckle. Then Avatar Korra said, "Can you stand?"

"I..."

Asami hesitated. It wasn't much of a word, just a letter actually, and yet it felt strange and alien in her mouth. Like she shouldn't be saying it.

"I think I can," Asami managed.

Avatar Korra sighed. "Then I'm afraid it's time to get going."

"Yes, Mistress Korra."

Asami raised herself out of Avatar Korra's lap and stood. Her body felt slow and sluggish, her legs still weak. But she also felt good and her strength was slowly returning.

Avatar Korra looked through her bag again and this time came up holding a blue leash. She clipped it to Asami's collar, right next to her metal heart. Asami inhaled sharply when the Avatar leashed her and a happy blush spread across her cheeks. Even after all that had happened just now in this very dungeon cell, she felt excitement stirring in her core.

"I'm going to keep you very close today," Avatar Korra declared. "I don't want you going anywhere else."

"Yes, Mistress Korra," Asami said while a huge grin spread across her face. "Thank you, Mistress Korra."

Avatar Korra zipped up her bag and slung it over her bare shoulder.

"Pick up my clothes, would you Asami?" Avatar Korra said. "I don't really feel like getting dressed again, but I can't just leave them lying around in a dungeon, you know?"

Asami smiled. "As you wish, Mistress Korra."


	8. Chapter 8

Asami followed Avatar Korra out of the dungeon and into the more public areas of the Palace. It wasn't as if she had a choice. The Avatar held her leash securely and strode on. There was nothing Asami could do but stride along behind her.

As they walked, Asami found her attention drawn to the blue leash. It was... odd. The Avatar was right in front of her, stark naked. One would've expected that sight to be a lot more interesting. But Asami couldn't quite take her eyes off her leash. Maybe it was the way it physically connected her slave body to that of her Mistress. Perhaps it was because the leash somehow symbolized her enslavement to the Avatar - how she was now forever bound to her. Or, possibly, it was because somewhere deep inside, Asami got a perverse thrill out of not just being the Avatar's slave, but her pet as well.

Asami walked obediently behind the Avatar, carrying the Avatar's clothes in her arms. She felt like she would have happily done so even if her Mistress didn't have her on a leash. If she were free to go anywhere she wished, where else could she possibly want to be more than near the Avatar?

She could practically hear Raiko sneering at her. Asami, the genius, innovative heiress, happy to be reduced to some carrier of clothes? Couldn't she see that she was being completely wasted here? That there were so many other things she could do? So many _better_ things?

But what did Raiko know about anything?

Avatar Korra walked out of the Palace and onto the grounds. The sun was already low in the sky. After her timeless stay chained in the dungeon, Asami would have liked to stop for a moment. Just to feel the sun on her face and the breeze on her bare skin. But Avatar Korra simply kept walking and Asami had to follow. Probably she could have asked for a moment to enjoy the outdoor air. It was even possible Avatar Korra would grant her a few seconds. She didn't ask. It wasn't important.

Avatar Korra soon ended up at a gym. From the outside, the building looked it had probably been put up somewhere during Avatar Kyoshi's reign. On the inside, it was a lot more modern. Clean, and gleaming and stuffed with advanced exercise equipment. Naked harem slaves ran on treadmills, lifted weights, or practiced with machines. Those who were able to watched Avatar Korra walk past. It was pretty likely that every one of these slaves had seen the Avatar naked at some point or another as part of their duties, but that didn't mean they were going to miss this opportunity to enjoy the sight of their exposed Mistress. Not one of them gave Asami so much as a second glance.

The training slaves were scattered about the vast room pretty randomly. It was still possible they were all training here because they were scheduled to, but Asami thought it was more likely they were simply spending some free time here. She idly wondered if the slaves were staying fit purely for themselves or if they wanted to be in perfect condition for the Avatar. Not that there really was much of a difference.

Avatar Korra walked out of the main hall and towards one of the private training rooms. Bowls of clear water stood on wooden poles. Stone discs lay in depressions in the ground. Metal balls lay on wooden tables. At the far end of the room stood a line of six badly battered training dummies. A very tall woman with a single black braid was battering one of them even more badly.

Avatar Korra sighed. "Just once it'd be nice to find her someplace else."

Avatar Korra quietly walked over to the angrily grunting woman. It took a moment for Asami to recognize her. The woman with the explosive third eye tattoo, yes. She'd seen her around, talked to her a couple of times, even. She still didn't know her name though.

As Avatar Korra and Asami stopped safely out of the way of her punches, Asami realized she didn't know the woman at all. Her face was contorted with a sneer of pure hatred, her eyes staring wildly at something that wasn't there. This room was obviously meant for bending practise, but the woman only punched the training dummy with her clenched fists over and over again. Asami had no idea who she could possibly be that angry at, but she was sure it wasn't the dummy. The woman didn't even see the dummy.

"P'Li," the Avatar said loudly.

The look of feral rage slid off the collared woman's face. She closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them again and turned toward the Avatar, still panting and sweating with the exertion. She seemed calm, but it was an obvious front. That kind of anger didn't just go away. Not even at the sound of the Avatar's voice.

P'Li bowed. "Your command, Avatar Korra?"

"P'Li, I want you to track down Hui, Huan Ti, Ginchiyo, Hikaru, Yuanji, Li, Yuriko, and Yue. Tell them to report to the throne room."

"It will be done, of course, Avatar Korra. But... if I may... _which_ Hui?"

Avatar Korra blinked. "Oh, right. Sorry. Hui who wears glasses."

"Of course, Avatar Korra. And...?"

"And the Huan Ti with the side shave," Avatar Korra continued. "Ginchiyo who bends lightning, Hikaru with the two different eye colors, Yuanji with the shaved head, Li who also wears glasses-"

"Uhm..." P'Li interjected hesitantly.

"Li who wears glasses and has that scar on her right arm," Avatar Korra clarified. "Yuriko who's got my symbol tattooed on her mound and Yue who dyes her hair blue. Got all that?"

P'Li bowed again. "Yes, Avatar Korra. By your command."

P'Li strode out of the training room. Her hands were still balled into fists.

"Alright," Avatar Korra said distantly. "OK, so, it'll take her a while to round everyone up, so why don't we go get rid of my clothes first? No need for you to keep carrying around, right?"

Asami had almost forgotten she was carrying the Avatar's clothes anyway. They were hardly a burden. But she smiled and said, "As you wish, Mistress Korra."

* * * * *

Putting away Avatar Korra's clothes was turning out a lot more exciting that Asami had first suspected it to be. Avatar Korra led her leashed body to her private manor. The central Palace might be where the Avatar conducted all her official business, but the manor was where she lived. It was a relatively modest complex of only three buildings, one of which housed the slaves who were in charge of keeping the other two buildings clean. Slave soldiers patrolled the manor's grounds and hallways. They were absolutely focused, dedicated to keeping the Avatar's personal sanctum safe from any possible outsiders.

Asami would have loved to just stroll through these hallways. To really see where the Avatar lived when she wasn't in her official role. But Avatar Korra hadn't taken her here to give her a guided tour and the leash made it impossible for her to loiter a bit. The most Asami could say about it was that it was decorated in a very Water Tribe kind of style, though with less ice sculptures than stereotypes demanded.

Soon enough Asami found herself in the bathroom. The Avatar's bathroom. Avatar Korra's private, personal bathroom. Asami couldn't help but feel a thrill just standing there. Still, it was not as... grand... as she'd been expecting. But then, she was used to the gargantuan slave baths, which were after all built to accommodate a multitude of harem slaves. A bathroom built for just one person, with maybe a hand-picked selection of attendants, just couldn't live up to all of that. 

"Just toss the lot into the laundry basket, it'll be fine," Avatar Korra said.

Asami couldn't help but feel a twinge of disappointment. She was here in the Avatar's actual bathroom, naked of course. And the Avatar was also here and also naked. And her grand task was to... put some clothes in a laundry basket. Part of her felt there was a definite opportunity being missed here.

Asami tossed the Avatar's clothes into the laundry basket without complaint. It might not have been the most exciting order, but it had still been an order. And what kind of slave would she be if she only followed the orders she got really enthusiastic about?

"And what shall I do with your boots, Mistress Korra?" Asami asked politely.

"Just give 'em here."

Avatar Korra grabbed her soft leather boots from Asami unresistant hands and put them just outside the bathroom door.

"There, that's that," said Avatar Korra. "Well done."

Normally, Asami would have been overjoyed to have heard such words from the Avatar. But she hadn't really done anything. Surely nothing that deserved such praise as 'well done'. She wasn't at all sure how to feel about this.

"Thank you, Mistress Korra," Asami said.

* * * * *

Avatar Korra sat high on the marble throne of the Avatars. Asami sat on the steps leading up to it, her leash still in Avatar Korra's hand. They must have made quite a sight. The Avatar on her throne, and her slave at her feet.

It was a very traditional kind of sight, really. Over the centuries, hundreds of painters had painted thousands of paintings showing this very thing. The eternal Avatar on their ever-lasting throne, surrounded by their mortal servants. Although in most of those paintings the Avatar was actually dressed.

The artists always claimed such works came from some deep spiritual need to communicate the very essence of the Avatar's role in the world to the masses. Probably because nobody felt like admitting that such paintings were a perfectly acceptable excuse to portray a large group of beautiful naked people without anyone batting an eye.

Asami heard Avatar Korra drum her fingers on a marble armrest.

"So have you settled in yet?" Avatar Korra asked.

Asami hoped she didn't look surprised. "Uhm, yes, Mistress Korra. I think so."

"Good," said Avatar Korra. "Sometimes it takes some my girls quite a while to adjust. But you're doing fine, then?"

Was... was the Avatar trying to make small talk? Was this something that was actually happening?

"I'm fully your slave, Mistress Korra," said Asami.

"Well, of course you are," said Avatar Korra. "But still, I imagine Palace life is a lot different than what you're used to."

"Actually, Mistress Korra, when I came back earlier..."

... Today? Had it been today? Probably it had been today. It had almost certainly been today. But after her stay in the dungeon, Asami couldn't be sure.

"When I returned from Republic City, I was relieved to be home again, Mistress Korra," Asami said.

"Alright then," said Avatar Korra.

A naked slave walked into the throne room. Her blue hair marked her as probably Yue. She dropped to her knees, pressed her forehead to the ground, and waited.

Asami risked a glance up at the Avatar. She was still and imperious, a hard glint in her commanding eyes. Her thumb slowly moved up and down a small patch of blue leather on Asami's leash.

More harem slaves entered the throne room. Each one went down on their knees and kowtowed in utter submission to the Avatar. Before long, all eight were there, naked and humbled before the throne.

Asami wanted to be among them. To be one of those eight. To be down on her knees, her forehead to the ground. The Avatar held her on a leash and was she was sitting on the actual steps to the actual throne and yet, part of her wanted to be one of the many showing the Avatar their devotion.

"Rise!" Avatar Korra commanded.

The eight slaves rose, their eyes on the floor.

"Approach!" Avatar Korra commanded.

The eight slaves obeyed, hurrying towards the throne.

"Tomorrow, the eight of you will leave for Republic City," Avatar Korra said. "Zhu Li is there overseeing the transfer of Future Industries. You are to assist her in whatever way she deems appropriate. Am I understood?"

"Yes, Mistress Korra," the eight chorused.

"Dismissed."

The eight slaves left. Avatar Korra watched them go, as still and as silent as one of the statues holding up the ceiling. Only once she was all alone again, save for Asami and all of the guards, did the Avatar relax.

"Right then," said Avatar Korra. "I think it's about time for dinner."

* * * * *

The moment Asami followed the Avatar into the banquet hall, a slave hurried up to them. Or to the Avatar, to be more precise. She gave no indication she'd even seen Asami.

"Mistress Korra, I'm afraid your dinner isn't quite ready yet."

"That's fine," said Avatar Korra. "There's been a slight change of plans. Asami here will be joining me."

Asami smiled and she was sure she was blushing. Dinner with the Avatar? Just the two of them? Oh, she was sure it wouldn't be nearly as romantic as those words suggested, but even so...

Dinner with the Avatar.

"Of course, Mistress Korra," said the slave. "I'll see to it, Mistress Korra."

"Oh, and..."

Avatar Korra leaned forward and whispered something into the slave's ear. Asami couldn't catch a word of it, but then, she didn't try to either.

"As you wish, Mistress Korra," said the slave, before hurrying off to the kitchen.

Avatar Korra sat down at the head of the impressive table. Asami remained standing next to her chair.

"Have a seat," Avatar Korra said, gesturing to a chair.

Asami sat down. The chair was a lot more comfortable than the marble steps of the throne, but part of her kind of wanted to be on those steps. Or at least, on those steps while the Avatar sat high on her throne. Not the two of them sitting on just ordinary chairs.

Avatar Korra rested her right hand on the table, the end of Asami's leash held tightly in her fist.

The two of them sat in silence for a while. Avatar Korra apparently didn't feel the need to say anything, and it wasn't Asami's place to simply speak out in the Avatar's presence.

The doors to the kitchen opened and slave streamed in, placing an assortment of fish and fruits and rice in front of the Avatar. One slave put a bowl of noodles in front of Asami. Another slave placed a pair of chopsticks next to the bowl.

Avatar Korra picked up her chopsticks with her left hand and awkwardly picked up a sliver of fish.

"You can eat," she said.

Asami stared down at the chopsticks. Then she looked at the Avatar. Then she took her bowl in one hand and grabbed some noodles with the other. Avatar Korra grinned.

As Asami ate her noodles with her hands, it became increasingly obvious that Avatar Korra was not left-handed. She could manage, but it was obvious she would have had a much easier time if she just held her chopsticks in her right hand. So why didn't she?

Was it because shifting her chopsticks to her other hand would mean possibly having to let go of Asami leash? Could it be that Avatar Korra was utterly unwilling to let go of her leash for even the slimmest of moments? Asami couldn't actually be sure. And yet, she couldn't stop the happy heat spreading through her naked body either.

Asami was done with her noodles long before Avatar Korra was done with her meal. She just sat and watched her Mistress eat. At one point she reached up to her collar and curled her fingers around her leash. She let her hand slide down the leather towards the Avatar. She wanted to move her hand all the way down to the Avatar's, feel her skin against her own. Asami didn't quite work up the nerve to actually do it, though. She wasn't sure she was even allowed to touch the Avatar right now. She contented herself with just touching her slave collar and her leash while her owner ate.

Asami remained silent after the Avatar had finished eating, and so did the Avatar. Kitchen slaves hurried in just as silently and cleared away Asami's bowl and the Avatar's plates and dishes. Only once the table was completely clear did Avatar Korra speak again.

"Would you be interested in a game of Pai Sho?"

"If that's what my Mistress wishes," Asami replied uncertainly.

"Alright, let me rephrase that," said Avatar Korra. "Do you like Pai Sho?"

"Yes, Mistress Korra," said Asami.

"Great," said Avatar Korra. "Let's play."

* * * * *

As it turned out, they weren't just going to play Pai Sho. They were going to play Pai Sho in the Avatar's private manor, in the Avatar's actual personal living room. Asami just could not stop smiling. She'd feared the Avatar might order her to wipe that stupid grin off her face or some such, because she wasn't at all sure she'd be capable of such a thing.

There was, however, one small problem. The Avatar's living room was decorated with a couple of landscape paintings. Imposing frozen vistas, mostly. But there was also a framed photograph. A naked, collared slave, down on her knees. Her arms were high above her head, locked in platinum shackles. She had a blindfold over her eyes and a ball-gag in her open mouth. It had taken Asami a moment to recognize the bound slave, but once she had, she'd felt a stab of jealousy.

Kuvira.

Avatar Korra had a picture of Kuvira in her living room. Avatar Korra apparently so enjoyed the sight of Kuvira chained up and blind and gagged and utterly helpless that she had an actual picture of her in her actual living room so she could look at her each and every day. What made her so deserving of such an honor?

It was a completely irrational feeling and totally unfair. Kuvira was one of Avatar Korra's most fanatically devoted slaves and had been for years. Why shouldn't the Avatar be fond of her? Asami recognized all of that. She just... couldn't help but feel jealous anyway.

Avatar Korra watched her closely. "Nice picture, don't you think?"

"It's very professionally shot, Mistress Korra," Asami said, keeping her voice steady with some effort.

"Pai Sho?" Avatar Korra suggested kindly.

"Yes, please, Mistress Korra," Asami replied.

Avatar Korra turned out to not be particularly gifted at Pai Sho. If forced to, Asami actually have to admit that, perhaps, Avatar Korra was just kind of bad at it. At first, she'd suspected that maybe Avatar Korra was letting her win for whatever reason, but no. No, she just wasn't very... good.

Avatar Korra did try. She thought very carefully about her moves. And they were good moves. _If_ there hadn't been a second player trying to thwart her every plan and win instead. Avatar Korra played as though she assumed all of her carefully constructed plans would always work out exactly as she imagined them and didn't know how to deal with Asami placing a tile in just the right spot to derail the whole thing.

They played three games that evening. Somewhere during the second game, it had got so dark that Avatar Korra had got up to turn on the lights. Asami had been forced to follow her those few paces to the wall and back. Avatar Korra hadn't let go of her leash ever since she'd clipped it to her collar back in the dungeon and she apparently wasn't going to let go for anything.

"Well, that was humiliating," Avatar Korra said after she'd lost the third game. She didn't sound very humiliated. In fact, she was smiling.

"Sorry, Mistress Korra," said Asami.

"You could have let me win once," said Avatar Korra.

"No, Mistress Korra," said Asami.

"Oh?" said Avatar Korra. "And why not?"

"Because... Because... as your slave, I have to give it, give _you_ my all, Mistress Korra. I wouldn't be serving you properly if I held back. On anything," said Asami.

"Well said," said Avatar Korra. "But do you actually believe that?"

"Yes, Mistress Korra."

* * * * *

Avatar Korra and Asami stood in the Avatar's bathroom, brushing their teeth. Avatar Korra had graciously lent Asami a toothbrush. Apparently she kept a number of them around for slaves who were going to spend the night in the manor instead of the harem quarters as usual.

Asami stared blandly at the large mirror in front of her. Then laughter spontaneously bubbled up inside of her when she finally noticed the image in the mirror, but she managed to bite it back down so she didn't spray toothpaste everywhere.

It was just so absurd. The whole thing. Here they were, Avatar Korra and Asami, brushing their teeth. It was an utterly mundane, every day kind of sight. Just two people and their toothbrushes.

Except that they were both naked.

Except that one of the two wore a slave collar.

Except that the other held the slave's leash.

Asami wondered if she could explain how ludicrous the whole scene was to Avatar Korra. She probably couldn't. Avatar Korra had no way of understanding her. Not about something like this.

Avatar Korra leaned forward and spat in the sink.

* * * * *

And now Asami stood in Avatar Korra's bedroom. She was practically trembling with excitement. She tried to remain calm, but she couldn't manage. Aroused heat danced through her naked body and she was sure her pussy was shimmering with anticipation.

Asami was led by the leash to the Avatar Korra's bed. The two of them came to a stop on the large and fluffy rug lying at the foot of the bed. And what a bed! It was not as huge as the beds the harem slaves shared, but it was still big enough to easily hold maybe a dozen people. Maybe more if everyone squeezed together. And who wouldn't want to squeeze together if they were in the same bed as the Avatar? To press their bodies as closely together as they possibly could.

"You know Asami, I made a mistake," Avatar Korra said.

"Hmm?" said Asami, while images of naked bodies writhed lustfully in her imagination. "Please, forgive me, Mistress Korra, I... What was that, Mistress Korra?"

Avatar Korra turned to face her. "I shouldn't have sent you to that meeting with Raiko."

"I... I'm... If you say so, Mistress Korra," Asami replied.

Avatar Korra wrapped Asami's leash around her hand, forcing Asami to take a step towards her, making the possible distance between them that much shorter.

"I mean, what right does Raiko have to you, right?" said Avatar Korra.

"None, Mistress Korra," Asami replied.

"None," Avatar Korra agreed.

Avatar Korra tied another loop of the leash around her hand. Asami had no choice but to be closer to the Avatar still.

"You were gone and I couldn't have you. I mean, I could, but I'd have to go all the way to Republic City first. Can't say I appreciated that."

"I didn't care for it either, Mistress Korra," Asami replied.

Avatar Korra coiled another length of blue leather around her fist.

"From now on, I'm going to keep you _exactly_ where and how I want you. I'll make it so that I'll always know where to find whenever I need you. So I can have you whenever I want to."

"Please, Mistress Korra," Asami breathed.

Avatar Korra wrapped the last of the leash around her hand and the distance and her hand and Asami's collar vanished. They stood against one another, skin against skin. Asami could feel Avatar Korra's breath on her, felt her heat. Felt herself floating into the Avatar's blue eyes.

"You're mine," Avatar Korra growled.

"I'm yours," Asami whispered.

Avatar Korra grabbed her and pulled her into a kiss. Her kiss was rough, possessive, smashing her mouth against Asami's lips, forcing her tongue into her mouth. Asami whimpered meekly, melting into the Avatar's powerful body, feeling herself submitting to the Avatar's powerful kiss.

Asami accepted Avatar Korra's tongue into her mouth, tried to fix her lips against the Avatar's, but she didn't really try to join in or kiss back. It was all the Avatar, kissing her hard, exactly the way she wanted. As was her right.

Avatar Korra ended their kiss as abruptly as she'd started it. She gave Asami's leash a little slack, allowing her a little room in which to breathe.

"You're not a bender, right?" Avatar Korra asked.

"Wh...? N- no, Mistress Korra," Asami said.

There were a couple of large metallic clunks from the direction of the door. Asami knew instantly it was locked and it would not unlock again without bending. She was trapped in this room and would leave only when Avatar willed it. But she was trapped in the Avatar's bedroom together with the Avatar, so 'trapped' wasn't exactly the right word.

Avatar Korra unhooked the leash from Asami's collar. She tried not to let her dismay show. She would have liked to stay leashed to the Avatar, but she knew why Avatar Korra didn't feel like it was needed any more.

"Stay right here," said Avatar Korra.

Without even turning to look if Asami was indeed staying on the rug as ordered, Avatar Korra walked to her walk-in wardrobe and vanished from sight. Asami waited patiently, standing exactly where Avatar Korra had left her. She tried to see where Avatar Korra had gone, exactly, but from where she stood all she could see was a lot of blue fabric of all kinds and materials.

Asami gasped with astonishment when Avatar Korra appeared again. She was no longer naked. Instead, she wore a sheer, blue negligee that clung seductively to her muscular frame. Asami felt her mouth going dry at the sight. She'd seen Avatar completely naked for most of the day, but now there was overwhelmingly sexy about her now that she was kind of dressed again. The tailor must have been a genius. The barely-there negligee managed to turn every one of the Avatar's movements into an erotic suggestion.

Avatar Korra posed playfully. Asami felt herself getting unbearably wet when she realized that the Avatar was posing playfully for an audience consisting entirely of Asami.

"How do I look?" Avatar Korra asked with a bright smile.

Asami swallowed hard. "Divine, Mistress Korra."

"I'm glad you approve," Avatar Korra said. "Well, time for bed."

Before Asami knew what had happened, Avatar Korra had switched off the lights and crawled under the sheets of her large bed and sighed contently.

Asami stood awkwardly in the darkness.

"Uhm... M- Mistress Korra?"

"Hmm?" Avatar Korra asked.

"Where do I sleep, Mistress Korra?" Asami asked.

"On the rug of course," Avatar Korra said sharply. "You don't think you've earned the right to sleep in my bed, do you?"

"No, Mistress Korra," said Asami.

"Good," said Avatar Korra. "G'night, Asami."

Asami curled up on the fluffy rug at the foot of the Avatar's bed, closed her eyes and tried not to think too hard about the arousal raging through her slave body.

"Good night, Mistress Korra."


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You'd think this story is going somewhere, but really, I am just making it up as I go along.

Fire Lord Izumi was not pleased to see Kuvira waiting for her at the airship landing pad of the Avatar's Palace. She also wasn't particularly surprised. As one of the Avatar's foremost commanders, Kuvira held a certain high position in the hierarchy of slaves - though the woman herself would no doubt deny that. Having her meet a foreign head of state was probably intended as a sign of respect.

Kuvira stood ramrod straight, naked, collared. She stared at Izumi as she descended her airship's ramp, but that was about the only acknowledgement she gave her. Kuvira didn't bow to the Fire Lord, didn't salute, didn't so much as nod in greeting. Instead she merely stared at Izumi with cold disdain in her eyes.

Izumi had dealt with Kuvira before and that disdain had become familiar. Fire Lord Izumi ruled the Fire Nation. Kuvira was a slave. If forced to choose between being considered a person or property, Izumi had no doubt at all that Kuvira would instantly declare herself property. And yet this naked slave woman looked at Izumi as though she was beneath her. As though between the two of them, only Kuvira had any value and Fire Lord Izumi was less than worthless.

Kuvira had never said any such thing out loud, of course, but then she didn't need to. Her face spoke volumes.

"I am here for an audience with the Avatar," Fire Lord Izumi declared.

"Follow me," Kuvira commanded.

The slave turned around and strode away. She did not look back to see whether Fire Lord Izumi followed her or not.

* * * * *

The walk from the airship to the Palace proper was unusual. Fire Lord Izumi felt she ought to have got used to the Avatar's Palace, but she hadn't. At first everything was fine. The only people around were uniformed guards on patrol. If it hadn't been for Kuvira's nakedness, Izumi might have briefly been able to convince herself she was out in the normal world somewhere, visiting some other head of state.

But as she headed deeper into the complex, the uniforms gradually disappeared, until there was nothing left but blue slave collars and bare skin. Uncountable naked women surrounded Fire Lord Izumi. A lot of them were training, either fighting or jogging in groups. Izumi had the feeling she was far more distracted by their bare, bouncing breasts than they were. A few slaves were busy maintaining the gardens and had been granted heavy gloves as they worked. Quite a lot of slaves were having sex, their pleasured cries echoing around the complex. And of course, there were still guards on patrol, but these were as naked as everybody else.

In the Avatar's Palace, all this was quite ordinary. Outside its great walls, the whole thing would have been unthinkable. It was strange, really, how utterly alien the Palace was compared to the outside world. All the world turned around the Avatar and the Palace was the Avatar's world. As such, the Avatar's world and the rest of the world really should have been a lot more similar than they actually were.

But that was the kind of thinking that wouldn't lead to any changes in Palace, but in the rest of the world. After all, the only way to put the Avatar's Palace in line with everything else was to install the Avatar as the sole, unquestioned ruler of the entire world and reducing everybody else to her collared slaves. There were no other possibilities.

* * * * *

Kuvira led Fire Lord Izumi to the doors to of the Avatar's throne room and left. She hadn't spoken a single word during their entire walk. Hadn't even so much as looked at her. In a way, Izumi was glad of that. Either Kuvira would have made clear how much she despised her or she would have been utterly insincere in her forced attempts at politeness. Silence had suited the both of them quite well.

Two slave guards stood either side of the doors. They didn't look at Fire Lord Izumi with Kuvira's barely disguised loathing, but they didn't particularly care about her either. She wasn't a threat, and that was about the extent of their interest in her.

Fire Lord Izumi walked past the guards, pushed open the doors, and strode into the throne room.

Raava loomed above her. It was only a relief on the ceiling, of course, but the sight of her still stopped Izumi dead in her track. Raava wasn't just another spirit, Raava was _the_ Spirit. Raava had brought peace and harmony to the world. Without Raava there would only be chaos, strife, and suffering. Only through Raava could there be light.

And the bearer of Raava sat on her distant marble throne, waiting for her.

As Fire Lord, Izumi enjoyed certain privileges. For one thing, she was allowed to greet the Avatar with a simple bow.

Fire Lord Izumi went down on her knees and pressed her forehead against the floor. Part of her had expected Avatar Korra to immediately tell her to stop being so formal, but she didn't. She said nothing at all, leaving Fire Lord Izumi waiting in her submission.

"You may approach the throne," someone said. It wasn't the Avatar.

Fire Lord Izumi rose and walked towards the throne. She walked underneath the watchful eye of Raava, past the statues symbolizing all the people under the Avatar's care. Of course, that included Izumi as well. Perhaps fortunately so, perhaps not.

Avatar Korra sat silently on her marble throne. Three beautiful slaves lounged on its steps. They looked quite ornamental, and Fire Lord Izumi didn't trust them for a moment. No doubt these slaves would scrutinize her every word, her every movement, her every breath.

Izumi knelt again and pressed her forehead against the lowest step. The marble was cold, the edge pressed sharply into her skin.

"Rise," said a slave.

Fire Lord Izumi stood.

"You requested an audience with the Avatar," a slave said. "Speak your mind, then."

"No doubt you're aware I was in Republic City recently for talks with President Raiko," Fire Lord Izumi said.

"Of course," said one of the collared slaves. "You and Earth Queen Hou-Ting were there to discuss trade as well as aid for Republic City's rebuilding."

"That was indeed the public agenda," said Fire Lord Izumi. "But we also had a more informal meeting with the President."

* * * * *

President's Raiko spacious study had once commanded an excellent view of Republic City and would doubtless do so again once the rebuiling efforts were complete. Fire Lord Izumi, Earth Queen Hou-Ting and President Raiko all sat quietly around the room single table while a servant carefully poured the tea.

"Thank you," Raiko said, once the servant was done. "You may go now. And make sure we're not disturbed. By anyone."

"Of course, Sir," said the servant. She bowed to the Earth Queen, then to Izumi, then left on silent feet.

"I hope you don't expect me to refill my own tea," Hou-Ting said.

Raiko vaguely waved a hand. "I'll pour you tea, if it comes to that," he said. "But I think you'll agree that the less people are here the better."

"Indeed. I cannot help but notice the absence of Abbot Tenzin, and Chieftain Tarloq, and Chieftain Eska," said Izumi. "I suppose, the Air Nomads don't have too much to offer in trade, but surely the Water Tribes could be valuable to the reconstruction efforts."

"I doubt it," said Hou-Ting. "If it doesn't involve ice, the Water Tribes are completely useless."

"Put another way," Izumi said, ignoring her, "you've neglected to invite the last Avatar's son and the current Avatar's father and cousin. I can only assume, then, that you wish to discuss the Avatar and that the discussion is not going to be entirely... positive."

Raiko nodded unhappily. "I'm afraid so. I'm sure it won't have escaped your notice that Avatar Korra is overstepping her bounds once again. It's happened before, of course, many times, and I think we should see to it that the Avatar doesn't become a tyrant once again."

Izumi raised a skeptical eyebrow. "You believe the Avatar has plans for world domination?" she said, trying not to sound too sardonic.

"Perhaps not intentionally," said Raiko, "but the Avatar just takes and takes and gives nothing back. Why, only recently, Future Industries was torn away from the public and put into the Avatar's sole control."

"I know precisely what you mean," said Hou-Ting. "Why, only eight months ago, the last member of a proud Ba Sing Se family decided to become one of the Avatar's slaves, and do you know what the Avatar did with that once proud estate?"

"I'm sure you'll enlighten us," said Raiko.

"Turned the place into a soup kitchen and homeless shelter," said Hou-Ting. "It was a noble home, but now it's crowded with filthy, Lower Ring riffraff. The entire Upper Ring has been thrown into chaos with those vile lowlifes befouling the streets. The ring guards daren't throw that miserable lot back into their place because they're afraid it might anger the Avatar. Anyone can just walk up to a guard with some sob story about how they haven't eaten in two weeks or something and they're just whisked away to the Upper Ring as though they had any right to be there. The proper order of Ba Sing Se has been entirely overthrown."

"Because of a single homeless shelter," said Izumi.

"It should be in the Lower Ring where it belongs," said Hou-Ting. "But no, it amused the Avatar to upset an entire city. She did it out of pettiness and spite, I've no doubt."

"Exactly my point," said Raiko. "The Avatar-"

"And if that wasn't bad enough," Hou-Ting continued, "the Avatar is stealing my servants."

"S- stealing?" Raiko said.

"There's no competent help to be found anywhere these days," said Hou-Ting, "so I simply have train up all my servants myself. And when they're finally somewhat able to do their jobs almost properly, they suddenly have some spiritual awakening and take themselves off to the Avatar. I ask you, what sane person would choose slavery over being one of **my** servants?"

"It's a mystery, to be sure," Raiko said diplomatically. "But it only shows my point. The Avatar's tendrils are everywhere. On the surface, it might seem like we're a free people, but the Avatar still holds all of our strings. It's high time they were cut."

Fire Lord Izumi and Earth Queen Hou-Ting exchanged glances. They didn't like each other at the best of times, but for once they were in silent agreement.

"The Avatar is certainly a nuisance," Hou-Ting said. "But the unfortunate fact of the matter is that she is, in her own way, necessary. If I were to renounce the Avatar, I'm afraid certain elements of the population might call the legitimacy of my rule into question."

"Nonsense," said Raiko. "You come from a long line of Earth Kings. And Queens. Of course your rule is legitimate."

"You wouldn't say that if you weren't so ignorant of Earth Kingdom history," Hou-Ting said. "The unfortunate fact of the matter is that my ancestor served Avatar Li well during the Third Unification and was given the governorship of the Earth Kingdom as a reward. My family only holds the position by the grace of the Avatar. If the Avatar were to withdraw that grace..."

"There's a similar situation in the Fire Nation," said Izumi. "Avatar Akiko decreed that the Fire Lord should be the most skilled firebender in the country, to act as a kind of symbol for the entire Nation. However, during Avatar Hikari's time, my ancestor made the title hereditary. Avatar Hikari didn't make an issue of it at the time, but it did lead to civil war. Frequent civil wars, in fact. Even now, my own position is still... somewhat precarious."

"I'm not saying we should do away with the Avatar overnight," said Raiko. "But I believe we can start working to diminish her ridiculous influence. I'm sure that with enough patient messaging we can convince the people that Avatar shouldn't be nearly as important as everybody thinks she is. That she's just a relic of the past the world doesn't really need any more."

Izumi smiled. "Do you think it's wise to talk about relics of the past in the presence of a Fire Lord and an Earth Queen?"

"Besides, don't believe you can get away with undermining the Avatar," Hou-Ting said. "You lost your precious election to her, after all. Untangling yourself from the Avatar requires a certain politcal delicacy an upstart like you can't possibly have."

President Raiko pinched the bridge of his nose. "So that's it, then? We just let Avatar Korra do whatever she wants whenever she wants?"

"No," said Earth Queen Hou-Ting, "we simply keep her content so we can continue running our countries without too much interference."

"However," Fire Lord Izumi said, "I'll admit this... meeting... has given me a lot to think about."

* * * * *

"Thank you for telling the Avatar this," said a slave.

"I felt it was my duty," said Izumi.

One of the slaves smiled. "Really? You weren't just trying to shore up your precarious position?"

"No," said Izumi.

"I believe you."

A look of shocked surprise flashed across Fire Lord Izumi's face and she took a step back. Avatar Korra had finally spoken.

"Do you want anything for telling me this?" Avatar Korra asked.

"No," said Izumi.

"Good," said Avatar Korra. "So, are you heading back right away or do you want to spend the night?"

"It has been a long trip already," Fire Lord Izumi said carefully. "I would appreciate a rest here before returning."

"Consider it done," said Avatar Korra. "Opal, go find Izumi a room."

"Yes, Mistress Korra," said one of the slaves on the steps, who Izumi assumed had to be Opal. "Come on then," the slave added, turning to the Fire Lord, "let's go get you somewhere to sleep."

* * * * *

The slave Opal led Izumi to a part of the Central Palace where all the guards wore both uniforms and slave collars. It was the wing where the guests stayed. As far as Izumi could tell, it was also the wing furthest away from the harem quarters.

Fire Lord Izumi's guest room was... adequate. It was comfortable enough, it had all the necessities, but one would be hard pressed to call it luxurious. No doubt Hou-Ting would complain that a room such a this was far beneath the dignity of her station. Izumi had more mixed feelings about it. The room wasn't appropriate for a Fire Lord, but... it was suitable for a guest of the Avatar's.

Fire Lord Izumi felt she had barely had time to freshen up when there was knock at the door and a muffled voice informed her dinner would soon be served.

Izumi left her guest room and came face to face with a naked slave that looked oddly familiar. She was fairly certain she'd never seen the young woman around the Avatar's Palace before, but even so there was recognisable about the collared girl.

"Ah, yes," said Izumi. "Miss... Sato, was it?"

Izumi regretted the words at once. The slave in front of her might once have been Miss Sato of Future Industries, but she wasn't any longer. And reminding a slave of the life they'd had before the Avatar was a terrible faux pas at best.

"Sorry," said Izumi. "I didn't mean to... Forgive me."

"It's Asami," said the slave.

"Asami. Of course."

The slave held up a small box. "The Avatar wishes to give you gift and also wants you to know that you can refuse this gift if you so wish."

"Why would I-?"

Izumi's words got caught in her throat when the slave opened the box. There was a blue collar inside. Izumi stared at it, her breath growing shallower. So many thoughts ran rampant through her mind that she couldn't actually think any one of them.

Izumi didn't reach out for it. Didn't feel the leather underneath her fingertips. Didn't feel the Avatar's slave collar around her neck. Her arms were still firmly beside her body. She hadn't moved an inch. And yet while the collar still lay in its box, part of Izumi was convinced she wore it already.

"You haven't requested it. You haven't signed anything," said Asami. "None of this is binding. The Avatar simply thought you might appreciate it for just this single night."

Izumi tried to swallow and found she could. The muscles in her arm were tensing to reach for the box the slave held. To reach for the collar. Her collar.

"Put it away," Izumi whispered. "Put it away before I wear it."

"As you wish."

The slave closed the box and lowered her arms. Izumi took a deep breath. She was Fire Lord Izumi. It was her duty to lead the Fire Nation. It was a duty she could not betray.

Yes.

"This way, please," said the slave before turning and heading down the hallway.

Fire Lord Izumi fell into step besides her. "I, ah, I notice you wear a heart on your collar," she said, partially out of genuine interest, mostly to take her mind off of her own collar.

"Yes, I do," said Asami.

* * * * *

The banquet hall was far too grand for only two people, even if those people were the Avatar and a Fire Lord. Izumi knew Avatar Korra also had more intimate places to have dinner elsewhere in the vast complex of the Palace. She couldn't help but wonder if Asami would have taken her to one of them if she'd accepted the collar.

Avatar Korra sat at the head of the large table and gestured for Izumi to sit down in one of the chairs next to her.

"Did you know," Avatar Korra said with a grin, "Hou-Ting insisted on sitting at the other end of the table when she was here?"

"She's actually been here?" Izumi asked as she took her seat.

The slave Asami knelt next to the Avatar's chair. Avatar Korra ran her hand through the young woman's black hair.

"Once. Years ago," Avatar Korra said. "I mean, she's the Earth Queen. I had to invite her at least once."

"Yes, I suppose so. Women in our position have to make certain sacrifices, after all," said Fire Lord Izumi, painfully aware of how bare neck was.

"But all in all, I figure I was lucky she wanted to sit there. Because I couldn't hear a word she said from all the way over there," Avatar Korra said. She was still petting the slave Asami's hair. Izumi wondered if the Avatar was even really aware she was doing it.

The doors to the kitchens opened and perhaps half a dozen naked slaves entered, carrying the food. It was mostly fish. It was usually mostly fish. The slaves set everything down on the table and left again. Except for one.

"Would you like some tea, my Lady?" the slave asked quietly.

"No, tha-" Izumi began. And stopped. "Don't I know you?" she asked.

"I don't think you do," said the slave.

"Yes," said Izumi. "Yes, you were at President Raiko's. The servant who served the tea."

"You're mistaken," said the slave. "I've never been one of Raiko's servants."

The slave bowed to Avatar Korra, then left silently. Izumi put some fish on her plate, determined not betray any emotion. Everybody knew the Avatar had more slaves than she probably knew what to do with. Of course she would use her slaves as spies. And of course she'd spy on someone as important as President Raiko.

No doubt Izumi also had some of the Avatar's slaves amongst her servants. And even if she somehow miraculously didn't, there were probably plenty of people among her household who would happily pass along information to the Avatar of their own free will.

Avatar Korra held a piece of fish between her chopsticks and lowered her hand next to her chair. "How's the food?" she asked, while Asami lifted her head just enough to eat the offered fish.

"Excellent as always," said Izumi, truthfully enough.

Avatar Korra took another bite of her food, then fed another morsel to her slave. "Good to hear."

That appeared to be the extent of the conversation Avatar Korra was willing to make. The Avatar's attention was divided between eating and feeding her slave and it seemed she had none left to spare to chat with Izumi.

Fire Lord Izumi wasn't offended in the slightest.

The Avatar ought to focus on the important things, after all.


End file.
